Unmentionable trouble
by Obsessive Reader22
Summary: Tabby is the main character in this story. After showing up in Trenton looking for Ranger, all hell breaks loose. Can she fix this before she, or Diesel, end up dead..or worse. **BABE, CC friendly...MM and of course Diesel. :
1. Chapter 1

*****All characters are based on Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series…except for Tabby and Thayer. This is my first work of Fan fiction. I hope to hear lots of reviews. It's not complete, but it's coming to me quickly. Enjoy.

**********************Tabby POV**************************

I curled on my side pulling my knees as tightly to my chest as I could wanting them to almost be inside of me. I was cold, so cold that I couldn't even remember what any other temperature felt like. The pain in my stomach had stopped radiating throughout my entire body making it heavy and cold like stone. I struggled to open my eyes.

How long had I been down here? It felt like forever. The walls were stone with one single window about 6 feet off the ground. It was obvious I was still in the basement by the smell of dampness and dirt and the cool that seeped in through each and every stone in the walls. The chain on my left ankle was heavy and had rubbed my skin so raw that a thick callus covered the entire area like a shield. I was thankful for that. The pain and the blood loss from the wound had been hurting since I arrived.

When did I get here? The day that I had before entering into this prison started out with me sitting at the coffee shop waiting for Diesel to show. He was late, as usual, but I didn't mind. I had been trying to go over in my head what I was here to tell him, trying to find the right word, inflection and facial expression combination to ease the blow. I was wearing a pair of jeans, combat boots, a white wife beater and a soft brown leather jacket. My long brown hair was pulled into a pony tail, and I was wearing little makeup. I wasn't what you would normally consider a girly-girl, but I had my moments.

Diesel and I were in a sticky predicament. While we had indulged ourselves in many of sexual exploits, we had failed to ever create any type of relationship. Neither of us were the type of people that could handle a relationship, or the commitment that went along with it. The past 8 weeks changed all of that.

**** 8 weeks prior ***

"What do you mean, I fucked up?" I screamed, stretching my body as tall as it could go. "It seems to me that I wasn't the only one there!"

"I can't believe this, Tabb." He growled, roughly slipping his hands through his shaggy blonde hair again. "Shit. This is bad, if word gets out….you know what will happen."

I closed my eyes and begged my teeth to unclench long enough spit out the words. "I didn't intend on this happening." I shoved his shoulder hard enough to force him to take a step back. I followed. "I am just trying to figure out what to do." I shoved him again, another step back. This time he grabbed my hand. I reached up to smack him in the face, but he caught that too. "You may want to let go of me, Diesel….You know what I can do to you."

"Yes, I do." He pulled me close to him and whispered in my ear, his hot breath causing goose bumps run down my body. "Just remember what I can do to you."

"Stop." I said, my voice no longer sounding controlled and harsh, but weak and without resolve.

"No." He pulled my hands to the small of my back, and tipped his head down to kiss the crook of my neck. Uncontrollable shivers of anticipation ran through me. I stiffened, as his teeth met the tender spot behind my ear, nipping gently before the soft lap of his tongue melted the anger I felt. He faced me, foreheads touching, and eyes locked on mine.

"There's no more fighting." He purred, taking both my hands in one of his and pulling them over my head. "We can talk about this calmly and civilly or sweating and panting. Your choice."

"Diesel, that is totally inappropriate." I sighed, as his hand slipped up my shirt and cupped my breast through my black lace bra.

"Everything we have done is inappropriate. Why stop now?" He kissed me, tracing my lips with his tongue before slipping between my lips. I moaned and closed my eyes, pushing myself as close as I could. His kiss slowed and stopped, lingering light kisses on my chin and cheeks. "Soon, this mess will be behind us and we can be more careful."

A flash of rage. A mess! He thinks that me being pregnant by him is a mess that can be cleaned up quickly. I opened my eyes and stared directly in his. "What?" My voice was cold and almost metallic. He quickly dropped my hands and backed away a couple of steps. "The only mess that I will have to clean up, is you off my ceiling."

"Damnit, Tabby, come on. That's not what I.."

"You had better go, before I really lose it." I could feel the skin on my fingertips heat and hear my heart begin to race.

Diesel grabbed his hoodie off the hook by the door. "Tabb, call me when you are ready to talk about this without killing me." A soft whooshing sound and he was gone. I collapsed to the floor in a sobbing mess.

As an Unmentionable I had certain responsibilities, and getting pregnant by the top hunter was not one of them. The Unmentionable community was small, compared to our normal-human cousins, but we had rules, sovereigns and castes. Diesel and I weren't in the same class. He was a full-blood Unmentionable. That meant that both of his parents were, and his grandparents, and their grandparents. He had record of his family from the dawn of existence. I, on the other hand, was a half-breed mutt. I didn't even know my father, and my mother was only there for the welfare checks. I grew up believing that I was crazy, and that I was a freak. Even though Unmentionables can be born from 2 normal-human parents, their "powers" are usually little more than unusual parlor tricks. Mine were strong, which mean that my father was someone of purer blood. This of course led to the current problem.

Our arrangement had always been of a sexual nature. We were partners, friends, and occasionally (when the mood was right) lovers. But nothing was ever to come of it. Both of us figured no harm..No foul. Well, big foul. Big fucking foul.

I stood, wiping my eyes on my sleeve and dragging myself to my bedroom, collapsing face first on the bed fully clothed. Tomorrow I was leaving here. I was going to pack a bag, hop in my car and drive as far as I could away. But where? I needed somewhere I could figure this out, and would be safe. I sighed, rolling over. A small silver frame caught my eye. A pair of chocolate brown eyes stared back at me. I was going to find Ric.

I had met Ric years ago when I was in the Army. I was a Lieutenant and did Intel for his unit. He was a Special Forces bad-ass, with no emotions or qualms against anything asked. Nothing got past him and his men, and the government would use them for every crack-pot mission impossible case that they had. One day, Ric and his right hand man, Tank, came to my office and closed the door. They had never said anything more than one word sentences.

"LT, I need to ask you a favor." Ric's voice was soft and sultry. I always maintained a professional distance between myself and the men, but he was just so damned good looking.

"What is it, Manuso?" I asked, pushing what I was working on to one side and leaned into my desk.

"The mission that we are going on is going to need a….distraction…"

"What kind of distraction?" I asked my eyebrow raising. I was a desk jockey and only shot a gun a couple times a year to qualify. "I am not really qualified to do much, Manuso."

"Trust me, "He stood, placing his hands on my desk and leaned down. His face was only inches from mine. "You have everything that we need already." His eyes were like liquid sex and the ache to feel his touch shot through me.

I quickly sat back, shaking my head to remove the fantasy from my mind. "Spit it out Manoso!" I said, feeling self-conscience and exposed. "This isn't the playground, and you aren't Bobby Ritkins. So, don't push that crap at me like I should be impressed." As a woman in a Special Forces unit, I had to learn fast to use my "man-voice". Ric didn't move. He smiled, pulling one eyebrow up as if to challenge me. I ground my teeth.

Tank sighed, "Shit, LT, we need a woman to come out with us. Our guy is kind of a ladies' man. We can't seem to get him alone to take him out. You know the rules, no witnesses, no body, and no innocent blood."

"We need you to lure him into someplace private, with your feminine charm so that we can do what we do." Ric's voice was soft and commanding. "And we don't have a lot of time."

"Fine." I stood, "When do we go?"

"Now." Ric turned around, opened the door and walked out. I grabbed my purse and jacket and hurried after him, followed by Tank.

The "distraction", I later found out, involved me dressing up like a hooker and seducing this male-slut to come with me to a private place so that he could taken care of. I didn't ask what he was charged with, or who he was. His picture said enough. He was rough, a large scar ran from eyebrow to chin and he was covered with dark intricate tattoos. His eyes were dark and filled with an obsession of sex, drugs, and blood. We arrived in Brazil the next morning, and moved into a safe house right outside of the city. I was given a bag with clothes, a gun, a small knife and what I could only assume was my wardrobe.

The night of the "distraction" I was dressed in a short, black, tight dress that gave nothing to the imagination. I wore 4 inch black heels and not much else. The dress was cut in a way that made wearing a bra impossible, and the "underwear" that they brought for me was nothing more than string tied together. When I asked Ric about it, he simple replied. "LT, we are in Brazil?" My makeup was thick, and my hair was down and super sexy.

The club was loud, and dark. I knew that I wasn't going into this alone. There were 7 guys on the team, and Ric and Tank were going to be inside watching me like a hawk. The others were going to be spread strategically throughout the area. I had a bug planted in my earring and an ear piece. The gun was an obvious "no" when I donned the dress for the team. There was no place for it. That left me with the knife that was attached to inside of my thigh with a slim holster.

The target was spotted by the bar, sitting on a stool having a drink. I took a deep breath.

"LT, just get him to bring you into a back room. We will make sure your safe." Ric's voice in my ear reassuring.

"Thanks." I whispered as I flipped my hair over my shoulder, and sauntered over to the bar.

I leaned against the bar only feet from the target, leaning over it and showing my assets as the hem of my skirt rode up.

"Dos tequila, por favor." I called to the bar tender, using the worst accent I could muster. This seemed to get the man's attention.

"Shu are not from 'round 'ere, no?" his voice was like glass scraping on metal.

I turned to face him, put on my bedroom eyes, and smiled seductively. "No, I'm here on vacation."

"Americano, yes?" He smiled. "Shu heard 'bout ze best lovers coming from Brazil."

Gag me! I heard giggling in my ear. I closed the space between us, and placed my hand gently on his. "I have yet to find one to meet those expectations." I lowered my hand to thigh and squeezed seductively. "But I would love to see if you are up for the challenge."

The bartender placed the tequila on the bar, and the target through some cash next to it. Handing one to me, and raising the other. "To a challenge." We tipped back our drinks, and he slid his arm around my waist pulling me against him. "Let us go so I may prove it to you." His mouth hit mine in a sloppy kiss. "Your hotel close?" He moved to my neck, leaving a slobbery trail to my collar bone. I was going to bleach that later, after I gargled Lysol.

"I don't think I can wait that long." He said something in Spanish, and stood grabbing my ass tightly. "Is there anywhere we can go here?" I kept my voice breathy and hopefully convincing. At this point I don't think it would matter. This guy was too easy.

He looked around, "This way." He grabbed my hand and dragged me across the dance floor to a hallway that leads to the restrooms. I smiled; we were heading towards the group of back rooms. Suddenly he whipped open a heavy metal door, and pushed us both inside. The door slammed shut, followed by a creaking, rolling metal sound. A red light flickered on above us. I heard the team scrambling on my ear piece.

"Where are we?" I asked. He just smiled and pushed me against the cold metal door. His hands were rough as they pulled at the slinky fabric of my dress. "It's really cold in here, isn't there someplace warmer." I said, hoping to change idea of a location for our tryst. He withdrew from his frantic lust-filled grope and looked into my eyes. They were worse than the picture. They were death, and pain. "Maybe this was a mistake." I went to turn to open the door when two hands grabbed either shoulder.

"Bitch, you are mine now. I have much work for you." He turned and flipped another switch which turned on another light, only this one was behind a window directly across from us. There were 5 large men staring at us through the glass. I noticed that the glass had a distinct color to it, like a two-way mirror. He grabbed my hands and dragged me to the center of the room. Ripping the dress off of me in one swift movement. I automatically grabbed to cover myself. "What is this?" His voice rose playfully, puling at the knife I had strapped to my leg. "You think you need this?" He flipped the blade up dramatically. "Is it sharp? Should we see just how sharp it is?"

"Oh, shit." I whispered. My heart was racing. I could hear Ric screaming at the team through the earpiece. The whole room was spinning, and I couldn't feel the floor under my feet.

"LT…..Shit, Tabby….we are gonna get you out of there. Just hold on. Fight him, Tabby. Don't let him hurt you." His voice was calm, but I could hear the anger in his voice. "Where the fuck is she?"

He carefully slid the blade back into place, placing it in his pocket. "Soon…I have other things on my mind." He lunged for me taking me down onto the floor. I kicked, and hit and squirmed to get him off of me. He was strong, very strong. Every time I reached for my knife in his pocket, he would punch me, and slam me hard into the floor. The voice in my head was screaming at me for not going to the gym more often, and for not taking those additional martial arts courses. He got a hold of my wrists and bit at my breasts. I screamed, squirming, and kicked him with my legs. I heard pounding at the door. "Someone wants to use the room? Well, we will just have to make this quick. "

He looked up, noticing a wooden packing crate just a few feet in front of us. He picked me up by the death grip he had on my wrists and flipped me around. I slammed down on the crate, making my head swim to and from unconsciousness. He slammed his insteps against the outsides of my feet pinching them tightly between the edges of the crate and his feet, making my legs were trapped open. Shifting his weight, he put both my wrists in one hand and pulled them to the small of my back. I felt him reach between my legs and pull at the tiny g-string. I felt the tears start to flow as the material snapped. He ripped it from my body and threw it on the floor

"You going to love this Brazilian, bitch." He leaned back, reaching down to undo his buckle and unzip his pants. The sobs broke freely from me at that point. I felt his hand reach down between my legs and roughly stroked at my sex. I started screaming. "Bitch, stop that noise." His hand left the place between my legs and punched me hard in the back of my head. Black starts burst in my eyes, and I felt my body go limp. I could still hear him, feel him and smell him.. Why couldn't I move?

He pulled out the weapon between his legs and let it fall onto the small of my back. In my head I was screaming. Unlocking his insteps from my feet, he repositioned me for better angle. He spoke softly in Spanish something I didn't understand, before he reached down to position his "weapon". A large explosion filled the room, knocking him off of me. I heard a gurgling scream, and a slick gushing sound.

Something draped around me, a rough material that smelled familiar. I felt my body being lifted, and cradled close to a large strong chest. "LT…you're gonna be okay. We got you." Ric's voice filled my head, as I felt tears run down my face. Then, I finally slipped into total unconsciousness.

I spent the next four years working as one of Ric's team. They taught me self-defense, weapons training, and everything else that I would need to defend myself against the varying situations that were thrust upon us. We had even shared a few intimate moments. He was there when I learned that I was an Unmentionable. He could help me, and keep me safe until the baby was born. If only I could find him.

***** 8 weeks later******

Diesel had agreed to meet me here. He was angry when I told him where I was. It had taken me two months to figure out where Ric was. It wasn't like I could just open the phone book and call him. He was smoke, and it wasn't easy tracking him back to his home state.

I had made my way from Washington State, to Las Vegas. I had a contact that had seen him there recently. From there I followed the trail to Miami. His ex-wife was there with his child and her new husband. There was no way that I was going to speak to her. We didn't have the best relationship. Let's just say that walking in on your soon-to-be-ex-husband and his colleague going at it like crazed animals didn't leave her with the best impression of me.

I had searched her home one morning when she was in the shower. I found a phone number for him in her cell phone, but it was just an automated phone system for a company called Rangeman. Weird, I thought, did he get into appliance sales or something?

I followed this particular branch of Rangeman to New Jersey. I knew that his family from from New Jersey, but had only met them once at his "Welcome to Civilian life" party. After a week of surveillance, I found out that his office was in Trenton. That's why I am here now. I have got confirmation that he's here, but I haven't managed to locate him. Although, after asking around I have learned that he, like he always was, is like smoke. No one knows where he goes, or where's he's been, just that he will be around.

"Looking good, Tabb." A deep voice said from behind me. The smell of Christmas filled the air.

"Diesel." I smiled, stood and turned around. "I have missed you."

His arms wrapped around me in a tight embrace. Even though Diesel and I weren't in a traditional relationship we had a bond that couldn't be dismissed as just a fling. He is my best friend, and I am his. "How's everything? Are you...Is there still…" he stammered softly in my ear.

"The baby is fine, Diesel." I whispered, kissing him softly on the cheek. We broke our embrace and settled at the table. Diesel lifted his hand, gaining the attention of the server.

"We'll have two lattes, whole milk, one with cinnamon, and one with honey." After the server left, he gathered my hands in his. "What's the plan, sweetheart? And why are we in Trenton?"

"Well, I am going to hide out until after the baby's born." I said, rubbing the nook between his thumb and finger with my thumb. "I am going to ask Ric if he'd take me in until then."

Diesel's jaw dropped, and I could feel the temperature of the room drop a couple of degrees. "RIC!" his voice echoed off the small coffee shop. I put my hand up to shush him. His shoulders heaved, and when he spoke his voice was once again calm. "You don't even know the man anymore, Tabb. He's changed."

"He's the only one that I know who could keep me out of the spot light. I am sure that he still has some connections to safe houses. Plus, I need to be somewhere the Unmentionable community can't find me." I pulled my hand away from his. "And you know damn well that it's not where I was." I crossed my arms in front of my chest, before I realized what he had said. "What do you mean he's changed? When have you seen him?"

"Shit." He said beneath his breath. "I have run into him a couple of times over the past few years. I've had a couple of trips to Trenton. It's a hotbed of excitement in the Unmentionable world, you know."

"How could you have not told me?"

"It was business, Tabb. Plus, I didn't want you running back to him. He was in a sticky situation, and now he's just broken. I don't even know if he'd be able to help you." He sighed and reached across the table and grabbed my hands, pulling them forward. "If you want I can help you get in touch with him, but trust me…he's not the same."

"No." I pulled my hands from mine. "I will do just fine on my own."

"Tabb, please. Let me find you someplace safe." Diesel whispered as the server set our drinks on the table. I picked mine up and sipped from it.

"I will call you if I need your help Diesel." I took another drink. He just watched me, trying to reach into my mind and read what I was hiding from him. "It's not going to work. You know that you can't penetrate it." I smiled, looking up at him.

"Damnit, Tabb." He ran his thick fingers through his hair. "I can't help you if you don't tell me what you are doing. What's going to happen after the baby is born? Where are you going to go?"

"I will figure that out."

"Here." He pulled out a small manila envelope and pushed it over to me. "In there is a phone, a new ID, cash, and keys."

"Thank you Diesel." I stood up and leaned across the table, kissing him gently on the lips. "I will pay you back."

He pulled me around the table and into his lap. "There's no repaying me, Tabb. I am in your debt more than you know." He wrapped his arms around me, and kissed me deeply. We were both a little breathless when we broke our kiss.

"Diesel, I have to go." I grabbed the manila envelope off the table, and stood. He grabbed my hand gently.

"Tabb…." He let out a big sigh. "Please, be careful, and call me so I know that you're okay."

"I will. I promise." I kissed his forehead, as he let go of my arm. I left him there staring at our lattes, head in hands.

I pulled out the keys from the envelope and clicked on the unlock button. A hundred or so feet ahead of me headlights flashed on a brand new black Chrysler 300. "Nice, Diesel, Nice." I thought as I jogged down to the car, wrenching it open and getting inside. It smelled like Christmas, and had soft cream leather everywhere. Starting up the car, I set my purse and the envelope on the seat next to me. I pulled onto the street and headed towards the hotel that I had been staying at. Glancing at the money Diesel had left me, I could move into a hell of a lot nicer hotel for quite a while. I pulled into my parking spot, and turned off the car. I searched the console and the glove box, only to find more cash, an unmarked limitless credit card, and two fully loaded 9mm with holsters. 'Diesel,' I thought. 'You always think of everything.'

I pushed open the door and popped the trunk. There was a duffel bag, and a cardboard box inside. Opening the duffel bag, I found clothes, shoes and a warm jacket. The cardboard box held my favorite book, the blanket off my bed, the teddy bear I got for my birthday when I was 8 and the silver framed picture of me, Ric, and my brother Bobby. A tear formed at the corner of my eye. Diesel was amazing. I grabbed the frame, my fingers lingering on my brother's face. With a sigh, I pushed open the frame, slid the picture out and slipped it into my purse.

I closed the trunk, and locked up the car, as I ran to my hotel room and unlocked the door. Once I got in the room, I started packing everything that I had into the hockey bag that I had brought with me. It only took me 15 minutes to get everything into my car and check out the latest lead before finding a new place to stay.

I pulled into a parking spot in front of Plum's Bond Agency around noon. I reached into the glove box, pulling out the two 9 mm and holstering them. I pulled some of the cash and the black limitless credit card out of the manila envelope and put it into my wallet before stashing the rest in the glove box. I got out of the car, and locked it before stepping around the car and headed into the bond's office. A short, round black woman in bright colored spandex was sitting on a beat up sofa near the back of the room cramming jelly doughnuts into her mouth. Another woman, was sitting behind a desk in front of what I could only assume was the "boss's" office. Both women stopped chatting when the bell above the door sounded my arrival.

"Can I help you?" The woman behind the desk asked me. She was a dark haired, big busted, typical New Jersey Italian with a pretty face, and big hair.

"Yes, I am looking for Vincent Plum." I said, looking from one woman to the other. They both stared at me. I felt really self conscience and looked down at my clothes. I smoothed my hand over my jeans, and white beater. Everything seemed like it was in place.

"Just a moment." The older woman said, pulling herself up and walking towards the door behind her. She knocked loudly. A muffled and irritated, "What?" came from the door. "Vinnie, there's someone here who wants to talk to you." She sat back down and continued to chat with the larger black woman.

After a moment, the door swung open to reveal a rather scrawny man, who obviously hadn't slept properly in weeks. He looked me up and down, making me feel like I was a Red light special. His tongue jutted out of his mouth and slid across his lips. My stomach lurched, "ugh," I thought. "Another perv."

As he walked towards me he outstretched his hand, "Vincent Plum." He stated. "How can I help you?"

I took his hand and shook it. His handshake was weak, unsurprisingly. "I am looking for information on Ricardo Manoso. I heard that you can help me get it."

Both women stopped talking, and their mouths dropped open. Vincent Plum, raked his hand through his hair and stammered, "Umm, well he's an employee of mine. But only part-time. What information were you trying to acquire." He was still holding onto my hand.

"I need to find him. It's of a personal nature." I said, pulling my hand away from him. "Is there any way that I could get his address from you, or possibly a contact number."

"Well, I can't do that." He sighed. "Especially seeing that he doesn't have an address. He's kind of a private person. How about if I get your information and pass it on to him? That way I don't have to risk getting my throat slit in the middle of the night, just in case you're some crazy stalker." He smiled, and snorted as a nervous laugh filled the quiet of the office.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to give this man any of my information. He seemed kind of shady. But I really need to get in touch with Ric. "Tell him that LT is looking for him." I turned and walked out of the office, stopping at the curb in front of the car. I could feel the eyes of the bond's office on me. I turned and smiled then walked around to the driver's side of the car. I clicked the locks open and reached for the handle. As I did, a wave of heat flooded my body and I felt blackness around my consciousness.

I woke up in the basement, surrounded by stone walls, a damp floor and a chain around my ankle. I reached behind me and felt that the guns that I had were gone, as were my wallet and keys.

"Shit!" I said, pulling myself up onto my feet. The room was dark but I could make out a small sink, a bed, a toilet, and a small table with one chair. There was an unlit light bulb hanging precariously from a thick wire in the ceiling. I pulled at the small chain attached and winced as my surroundings came into light.

The bed was a metal framed full sized bed that looked like it belonged in a horror movie. The mattress was old, sagged pathetically in the center and was bare, except for the various stains of what I could only imagine were bodily fluids. There were two large metal rings in the wall about 6 feet off the ground.

"What the fuck is this place?" I whispered to myself.

"This is your new home." A voice behind me said. I jumped, unaware that I was not alone. A large man was standing in the doorway, light pooling around him. I pulled myself into a protective stance, my feet wide and my hand clenched ready for a fight. "I hear that you are looking for Ranger. " He walked towards me.

"I don't know anyone named Ranger?" I said.

"Yes, I believe you called him Ricardo Manoso." He smiled as recognition filled my face. "Ah, see you do know Ranger. He and I have had some rather interesting meetings over the past few months. I was hoping that I could use you to….convince him to cooperate."

"He doesn't even know I am here, or that I am alive. I'm of no use to you." My words spat at him. I was angry. I was so close to finding him, and now this.

"Oh, he will know soon enough, my pet." He took one step closer to me, which brought him in range of my swing. I nailed him on the side of his head, knocking him to his knees. I brought my knee to his face, slamming him on his back on the ground before I kicked him in the head for good measure. I heard footsteps on the other side of the door that the man had come through.

Quickly I looked around the room for something to arm myself with. Everything was bolted to the ground. I reached down the unconscious man at my feet, feeling for anything that I can use against whatever was coming down those stairs. Nothing. The man wasn't armed.

"Shit." I said under my breath. I stood and watched as four large men filed into the room, angry eyes piercing through my skin. "This is gonna hurt." I said to myself as all hell broke loose.

I was on the floor in the fetal position being beaten when I heard a voice near the door.

"STOP!"

The beating ceased, and I was hauled to my feet to face the man that I had first attacked.

"This bitch is going to learn to cooperate as well. Tie her down, get the camera." He smiled, as bile rose to my throat. "We are going to sent Ranger something he can really enjoy."

I screamed, thrashing against the massive hands pulling me down onto the wretched mattress. My arms were stretched and secured with thick leather bands that cut into my skin. My legs were pulled up near my hips and spread before the same kind of leather bands secured me to the mattress. Tears pooled in my eyes, but I forced myself not to cry. I will kill them all, I told myself. No matter what. All of them would be dead before the night is through.

I could feel my fingertips begin to warm. I waited as I felt the energy fill my body. I wasn't going to go down without a fight. Ric taught me that.

"Now, my precious." The first man said to me, leaning down into my face. "This will make it easier to play." I saw the needle flash in my peripheral vision before it sank into my neck. My entire body went slack almost instantly. I could feel everything, hear everything, but I couldn't speak, or move anything except my eyelids. I felt a tear fall from my eye as the realization hit me that I was defenseless. A rough hand reached down and wiped the tear from my eye. "Yes, cry for me. It will make it more meaningful when he sees it." The man walked away barking orders to the men that stayed.

My clothes were cut from my body, and I was beaten, raped, and brutalized. I felt every touch, every thrust, and every drop of sweat as it fell onto my broken body. I cried soundlessly, tears pooling around my ears and dampening my hair. I knew what they were doing. I had seen the camera move around and zoom into my face. I closed my eyes and mentally pulled at the muscles that refused to engage. After what seemed like an eternity, the final man thrust himself into me, grunted and lifted himself off of me. I was released from my restraints, except for the metal chain on my ankle. The light was extinguished, and I was left cold and naked for hours, possibly days.

The effects of the drugs wore off slowly. I regained only one small section of my body at a time, but was still very drowsy. I closed my eyes and slept.

I was awoken by another sharp stab into my neck. My eyes flew open and I rushed my limbs at my attacker. It was too late. As I was about to reach him, my body went slack.

"You put on such a lovely show, precious." The man said. He was the first man that I had met here. "I hope that you don't think that we have forgotten about you."

I blinked my eyes, anger radiating from every pore of my body.

"I have sent your little movie to your Ranger." He smiled broadly, showing pearly white teeth. "I am expecting to hear from him anytime now. But….before I do…I would like to have some fun of my own. Make sure that he understands the importance of his cooperation." He motioned to someone behind him. Two men came into the room and lifted me off of the bed. Another came in with a hose and attached it to the sink.

"Let me know when you are finished with her." He smiled again at me and turned walking out the door. "Have fun, precious."

I was cleaned and then handcuffed to one of the rings that hung on the wall, my feet hanging off the floor by about an inch. My face was smashed into the cold stone walls. The cuffs cut into my wrists, and blood flowed down my arms, the length of my body and my legs pooling on the floor beneath my feet.

"Lovely." The man had returned. "Now, let us enjoy ourselves a little, shall we?"

I felt the bet cut into my skin and more blood run down the length of my body. Laughter filled the room, and with each stroke of his hand the belt carved another deep gouge in my back. He stopped when I assumed his arm became tired, and ordered his men to set me back down onto the bed. Every movement my body made the hot searing pain flash through my body again. I was placed on my stomach, legs hanging over the side of the bed, and my face smashed into the dirty mattress. I felt only a rough hand slide over my ass before he entered me. He was large, and painful. I was, sickeningly, thankful for the blood running down my legs and over my sex as it soothed my sore sex. He beat me while he thrust. Pulling my hair, smacking my butt and thighs. I was relieved as I heard his breath quickened and he finished. Although, that relief was quickly robbed as yet another set of hands fell across my hips and the assault I had received those few days ago continued. I closed my eyes and fell into a self-induced state of unconsciousness.

Days past, maybe even a week before I woke on the floor curled in a ball. The pain in my stomach was severe. I hadn't eaten anything but a slice of moldy bread that had been thrown at me a couple days ago, and the brown water that came out of the sink did little to quench my thirst. I was so cold. I convinced myself that I was going to die here, in this cold damp hole. Diesel would never forgive her for putting herself in this kind of situation. Would he even know that I died? Ric surely knows that I am here, right?

I pulled myself over to the wall, feeling the ground for a damp spot of dirt. I knew that the wetness was from my own blood, but I didn't care. I needed to leave whoever found me a message. My fingers scraped along the wall spelling out "Ricardo Manoso. Tabb. Sorry D." My body was so weak. I couldn't even finish Diesel's name. I laid my head back on the ground, closing my eyes to rest.

A loud noise woke me. There was shouting, and gun fire. I tried to lift my head and get up, but my body was a dead weight.

"Trenton PD! Everyone down." A voice boomed. My heart thudded in my chest. Maybe I wasn't going to die here. I heard the voices get louder, the gunshots closer. "Get down! Get down, now!"

The door swung open. The light was blinding, even though I wasn't facing the door.

"What the fuck!" a man's voice yelled. "We need a bus here now!" The footsteps got closer; the beam of a flashlight ran across my body. I wanted to jump up into his arms and beg him to get me out of here. "Ma'am, it's okay. My name is Joe. I'm with Trenton PD. We're going to help you."

*****************************Morelli's POV*************************************

I knew that Thayer and his men were twisted, but this was beyond what I imagined I would find when we raided his complex. The room was dark, damp and smelled of blood, and fear. I instantly saw here laying there. She had been whipped with something; the thick cuts running down the length of her back were still fairly fresh. She was pale, and curled on her side, knees to her chest clutching them. As I looked, something right above her head caught my eyes. There on the stone were letters.

"Oh fuck." I reached down and pushed her hair out of her face. The woman was beautiful, despite the deep bruises and cuts that scattered across her entire body. Her eyes opened, and there were the most beautiful pair of grey eyes that I had ever seen. I slunk out of my jacket, and slipped it around her as I picked her up off the ground.

"Ric? Ricardo, did you find me?" Her voice was soft and she sounded delirious.

"Darling, you are going to be okay." I whispered into her ear. She cuddled into my chest as I carried her out of the room. We had taken at least 20 guys down tonight, and the place was already filled with blue and whites for clean up and a half a dozen EMTs to pick up the mess and help the wounded. I carried her out the door and into the closest ambulance. The EMTs got to work on her immediately as I flipped my phone open to make a call.

"Yo." A familiar voice said as the phone on the other end picked up.

"Yo, yourself. I have someone here that you need to see. Meet me at St. Francis in the ICU."

"Cop?" his voice was flat.

"It's not Stephanie. She's at home with the girls." I sighed. He made me feel guilty that I had won our little pissing contest with Stephanie. We have been married for over a year, and just had twin girls. I think that Ranger still thought that Stephanie was going to come running to him. I knew better. She was happy, and finally content. "This is something I have never seen before."

I shut my phone and walked back to the ambulance. A uniformed cop ran up to me, carrying a bag.

"Morelli, you find that girl?" He said.

"Yea, she's in the bus about to head out. Why?"

"We found this inside. We think it's hers. Check it out though; it's not what we expected."

I took the the bag and brought it to my truck, lowering the back hatch and emptying the contents. There were quite a few normal womanly purse things. A billfold, compact, lipstick, a small brush, hair ties and a cell phone. But then there was a pregnancy pamphlet, some loose bullets, and a picture of three smiling faces. One, I assume is the girl in the bus, the second was a young man around 20, and the third (holy shit!) was a young, smiling Ranger.

I looked up at the uniformed cop, mouth agape with the picture in my hand.

"Yeah, that's what we thought too. Pretty crazy. I didn't even know Ranger knew how to smile." He turned and walked away. Reaching back into my pocket I grabbed my cell phone once again. I pressed #1 speed dial and waited.

"Hey, honey." Stephanie's voice strained over the screaming of the twins. "When are you coming home? Dinner's almost ready."

"I don't know cupcake. There's…I…we came across something pretty messed up tonight. I don't' know when I am going to be home. Want me to call MaryLou to come help you out, or Lula?" I sighed into the phone. She is the love of my life, and I knew that she was struggling. Raising two newborn baby girls was no easy feat.

"Is everything okay?" Stephanie asked, the twins cries had died down and I could hear her falling into what I can only assume was the rocking chair in the nursery. "Is there anything that I can do?"

"No…I mean, Yeah…everything's fine. I just wanted to hear your voice. I'm good. I'll be home when I can." I sighed again. "I love you, cupcake."

"Love you too, Joe. See you soon."

I hung up the phone as the EMTs motioned me that they were ready to roll out. I hopped in the back of the bus and sat down looking at this woman of mystery.

"Honey, you have had a rough couple of days." I reached down and pushed a stray hair out of her face. Her head tilted towards my hand, her cheek snuggling into the warmth of my palm. "Everything is gonna be okay now. " I stroked her cheek with my thumb, not moving my hand.

*****************************Ranger POV**************************

I looked down at my phone. Joseph Morelli just called me. If that wasn't strange enough, he said that he had someone I needed to see. My mind raced. Who the hell would I know that would be at St. Francis?

There was a knock at my door and the door creaked open. Tank poked his head in.

"Boss?" he called, stepping into my office.

"Yeah." I said, clearing my head and sitting up straighter at my desk.

"We just got something in from one of our offices. You need to come and see this." He looked solemn.

"I have to run to St. Francis first. Morelli just called." I stood and slipped my phone in my pocket. I walked towards the door. Tank grabbed my arm.

"Tank..What do you think…?" I growled, ripping my arm from his grip.

"Ric…you have to come." Tank's face was grey with unease. He gulped audibly. "It's…It's..Please."

"Fine." I said, pushing past him. "Where?"

"The conference room. Zero has it." He followed me with his head down, his footsteps shuffling against the floor.

I entered the conference room and saw Hector, Santos and Zero huddled in front of a monitor. The second they saw me they stood, and backed away, clearing whatever was on the screen.

"What the hell is so important that I had to come now?" I barked, standing in front of the monitor. They all stared at me unmoving. I raised my eyebrows with frustration and motioned a 'come on, now' hand gesture. Zero was the first one to move. He reached in front of me and clicked a button on the keyboard. The black screen lit up instantly.

There on the screen was Tabby. Tied down to a rusty, dirty bed, naked being…OMG. I heard the roar, before I realized that it was me making it. The camera zoomed into her face..Tears soaked her mahogany hair, and her eyes were red. She closed them as soon as she saw the lens.

"What the fuck is this? When was it made? Who are they?" I shouted at no one in particular. Zero reached forward again, clicking the mouse pad to the end of the video. Dominick Thayer, a huge mafia leader filled the screen. I could still see Tabby in the background.

"Ranger, I hope that this little show proves to you how much your cooperation is needed." Thayer's thick voice filled the room. "Your little friend here has been most amusing. We will just keep her company until you decide to assist us in the little matter that we'd discussed."

The video screen flashed to another scene. My stomach clenched, as did my jaw and fists. They were whipping her like a dog. Laughing.

"I will kill him with my bare hands." I screamed, picking up the closest chair and flinging it across the room. It slammed into the door which gave way at the hinges. Bobby looked in.

"Boss, what's going on?" He called. I stopped breathing. I couldn't let Bobby see this. I reached for the keyboard, but it was too late. Recognition hit his face and he shot across the room his eyes glued to the screen. "What…it can't be…when…" He looked up at me, grabbing my shoulders and pushing me into the wall. Normally he wouldn't have been able to make me move an inch, but tonight he needed to. "Ric..You better fucking tell me what the hell is going on?" Tears welled up in his eyes.

My head sagged down, and then it dawned on me. Morelli. I turned to Tank.

"Get a team together. We need to head to St. Francis. NOW!" I peeled myself out of Bobby's grip. "I think I know where she is. Let me check this out. I will call you when I know for sure." I wrapped my arms around him. I am sure that the other men were in shock, but this was Bobby, Tabby's brother. He needed reassurance. I released him, as I saw Tank, Zero, Hector, Santos, Cal and Junior, fall into step with me. We ran down to the garage, filed into our vehicles and headed to St. Francis. Tank and Santos came with me in the Escalade.

"Boss, do you think that it's her?" Tank said, after I told him about Morelli's phone call.

"Positive." We sat in silence until we arrived. I stopped my men at the front door. "Tank, Santos, your with me. Zero and Hector go to each of the elevator hubs and wait. Cal and Jr you need to watch the stairwells. This could get messy." They nodded and ran off to their posts. Tank, Santos and I pushed up to the elevator and hit the ICU.

Morelli was waiting by the nurse's station talking to the doctor that, I assumed, was caring for our mystery woman.

"Morelli." I called. His head lifted and he dismissed the doctor. "Let me see her."

"She's pretty messed up, Ranger. I can't even tell you what they did to her." Morelli's voice was soft and defeated. He pointed to a room directly across from the nursing station. "She's in there."

"We do. Thayer sent us the fucking video. Did you get that bastard?" I put my hand on the door.

"Yep, and he's not getting away with it this time."

I pushed open the door and my heart fell to my feet. Tabby was lying in the hospital bed, multiple IVs stringing their way up to monitors and bags of various shades of liquids. Her face was cut, bruised and swollen. It took me three steps to reach her, when I did I didn't know what to do. I wanted to pick her up, and hold her. Tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"Do you know who it is?" Morelli asked, standing next to me. I nodded, reaching down to pull her hair out from behind her left ear. I sunk to my knees when I saw it. The RCM tattooed behind her ear was clear as day. I reached up autonomously, to touch the TTH that was faintly present behind my own ear.

"Man, who the hell is this?" Morelli's voice was filled with concern. I didn't blame him. I was "Batman" for god's sake; an emotionless mercenary that almost stole his woman out from underneath him.

"It's my Tabby." I whispered as I pressed my mouth to her open hand laying on the edge of the bed.

*************************Tabby POV******************************

I woke up to a constant beeping noise, and the quiet whoosh of air conditioning. My body ached, and my mouth felt like I had licked the bottom of a farmer's shoe.

'Shit.' I thought. 'Where the hell was I?' I looked around. I was in a hospital. I needed to get out of here. If the Unmentionables found me I was dead. More than dead. I would be locked up and Diesel would be punished. This was not good. The sound of men's voices stopped my brain from whizzing out of control. They were quietly arguing.

"I have to report her, and see where she belongs. Who she is, exactly, and who is looking for her." A deep familiar voice said. Then it was another voice, but all I could hear was mumbling.

"You can't just take her out of here!" The first voice spoke louder now. "She has been brutalized. She needs to recover and get the help that she needs to heal from this…emotionally." More mumbling..Then a woman's voice.

"I am just going to check her out, and then bathe her. You and your men need to stay out. It won't take me but a minute." The woman's voice was soft. Another grumbled response.

I heard the door handle click, and I shut my eyes. Frantically I thought of a plan. The nurse reached over me, checking the leads and the IVs. I quickly grabbed her, covering her mouth with my hand.

"Please, I won't hurt you. I just need you to be very quiet." My voice was scratchy and barely audible. The nurse nodded her head frantically. I had a feeling that she wasn't going to be quiet. I sighed and quickly jabbed her in the neck causing her to fall like a rock to the floor unconscious. "Sorry about that." I whispered. I quickly pulled out the IVs and the leads to the monitors I was attached. I slowly stripped her of her scrubs and tied my hair up with a piece of string from the hospital gown I was wearing. Slipping on the scrubs and shoes, I pulled the nurse into my bed and flipped the curtain around her. She wouldn't be out long, so I had to get moving.

I reached for the handle on the door, pulling it so that it was open just a crack. A tall man, more than likely a cop stood in front of another man hiding his face. I looked down the hall way. There about 50 yards away was an elevator, and right to the left of that was a door that said "STAIRS". Okay, so I had an out.

Taking a deep breath, I slipped open the door and started walking quickly to the end of the hall. I was half way down when I heard a metallic crash and a loud moan come from the room I had just left.

"What the hell! Hey, stop that nurse!" I heard shouted behind me. I glanced behind me and saw three large men in black charge after me, followed by the tall man outside my room. I ran to the stair well door. As my handle reached the door a firm hand grasped onto my shoulder. Without a second thought, I grabbed the hand, and using my hip flipped him up and over me. I slammed my heel into his chest and punched his face. I ripped open the door and flew down the stairs. That man was down for now, but he was big. It wouldn't take long. There was shouting at the bottom of the stairs sounding like two men. Taking the steps two at a time I wasn't stopping. I could take two guys at once, that was pie, it was the three more running down the stairs at me that I wasn't sure I could handle.

I saw the men one flight up from the bottom floor. They held their hands out to get me to stop.

"Listen lady, you just need to come with us. We ain't gonna hurt you." One of them said. I wasn't going to take the chance. I leapt at the closest one, flipping him down the stairs. His head hit a step with a crack, and I stood toe to toe with the next. He looked irritated, but not scared. He grabbed for me, pulling me into a reverse bear hug. I slammed my head backwards, breaking his nose. I then leaned forward, flipping my legs onto the wall and slamming him into opposite wall behind us. His grip didn't loosen, and the footsteps were getting closer.

'Think Tabby.' I screamed in my head. I reached down and grabbed a handful of his crotch, twisting until he screamed and dropped me to the ground.

"Sorry." I said, jumping over him. The footsteps were really close now. I flung the ground floor door open to find two more men in black pointing guns at me. I raised my hands in defeat. The footsteps behind me slowed. I felt an arm on my shoulder. I smiled. "Not today, assholes."

Grabbing the hand on my shoulder, I flipped him over me, and landing on his chest. I could feel weapons on either sides of him. I grabbed them, staring at the two men in front of me. I pointed one that them, and placed one on the man's chest that was beneath me. I could feel his chest heaving, and the breath rushing in and out. I had knocked the breath out of him.

"Put the fucking guns down or I will kill him!" I yelled, priming the gun and grinding it into his chest. The two men in front of me glanced at one another, uncertain what to do. I heard the door behind me wrench open and footsteps stopping feet from me. My heart was racing. There was no way out.

"Tabb." A familiar voice called from below me. "Come on."

My eyes got wide, and I slowly stared down at the man beneath me. Ric was smiling.

"Ric!" I put the weapons down on the floor, grabbed him by his shirt and pulled him up to me, kissing him. He wrapped his arms around me. "Oh, god, I'm sorry. I didn't know who you were."

His laughter filled the room. He picked me up and carried me to the elevator.

"It's okay folks. Show is over. Boys, pack it up. Tank will be down in a minute to brief you." He took a step inside.

"Tank is here, too." I snuggled into his chest. I felt Ric nodding. "You can put me down you know."

He placed me gently on my feet. "Thanks. Sorry for kicking your ass." He smiled, and I felt the world turn black. I passed out in the elevator.


	2. Chapter 2

*** The characters are property of Janet Evanovich, except for Tabby…she's all mine. This is my first story, so please leave reviews.

Chapter two

***********************Morelli's POV**************************

I huffed my way down the stairs. That girl could move fast considering what she had just been through. Maybe the four days of being comatose gave her a burst of energy. When I opened the door to the ground floor, I was shocked to see Ranger on the floor, straddled by the mysterious woman. She held a gun to his head, and he was trying to catch his breath. I saw the way that she took down the rest of Ranger's men, but Ranger too. That man was NOT going to live this one down.

"Tabb." Ranger squeaked, underneath her. "Come on."

She looked down at him, then picked him up by his collar and kissed him. I chuckled. There was no WAY he was going to live this down. I couldn't wait to get home so that I could tell Stephanie. She was going to pee herself laughing. On second thought, why wait until I get home. I flipped out my phone, as Ranger carried her to the elevator. Stephanie picked up on the first ring.

"Hon, remember that girl I told you about the other day. Ranger's mystery woman?" I sputtered out the words, too excited to hear her reaction. "She just took down four of Ranger's men, including Tank, and then threw Ranger down like a rag doll. It was priceless!"

"Joe, have you been drinking?" Stephanie sounded exhausted. "I don't think that someone who has been comatose for a few days could take out Tank, let alone Ranger."

"Cupcake, I haven't been drinking. I am serious." I laughed. "I saw it with my own eyes."

"Really? You aren't pulling my leg?" her voice sounding amused. "Damn I wish I could have been there. Maybe you can get the security tapes." She laughed.

"I am going to try my damnedest." I laughed with her. "I love you, Cupcake. I should be home soon. Love you."

"Love you, too. Bye."

I flipped my phone closed and made my way to the elevator. This has to be one of the greatest days of my life. I love this girl. Now, I just wish I knew who the hell she was.

I walked over to the nurse's station and calmed this down with the nurse that had been assaulted by Tabby. She had found another set of scrubs and was sitting behind the desk, cup of coffee in her hand, obviously shaken. She wasn't going to press charges. She knew what the woman had been through, and understood her need to flee. I asked if she wanted the scrubs back, but she said no. They were hospital property.

*********************************Ranger POV ***************************

Tabby was all curled up in her hospital bed, attached to yet another set of IVs and monitors. She had picked up some new tricks in the years that we had last seen each other. Morelli had told me about how he found her, and what was written on the wall above her head. My mind raced trying to figure out how the hell she got into this mess, and who "D" was.

Morelli had filled me in on her condition when I arrived four days ago. It wasn't good. More than what we had seen in the movie that Thayer had sent us. She had been pregnant. The doctors figured at least 3 or 4 months. When she arrived, they had to perform an emergency D & C. The baby had already been dead for a couple of days. According to the doctors, Tabb would have been in excruciating pain the entire time. They are amazed that she even survived. Most of her lacerations had been too old to sew up, so they had been cleaned and taped. They were pretty sure that she was out of the danger zone, and would make a full recovery….physically at least. I couldn't even imagine what her mental state would be.

I thought back to the first "distraction" job that she had done for us. We had been sloppy, and had not prepared her for the job. Guilt filled me. I grabbed her hand, bringing it to my lips.

"God, Tabb. I'm so sorry."

The door creaked open and I heard someone clear their throat. I turned to see Tank standing anxiously by the door.

"How's she doing, boss?"

I waved him over. "She's a trooper, Tank." He nodded, and put his hand on my shoulder.

"How you doing?"

I looked into his eyes. He and I had been through some crazy shit, and always came back…even if it wasn't always in one piece. "I'm better. She knows that I'm here." I patted his hand on my shoulder. "How's Bobby?"

"Not good, boss. He's begging to come see her. Maybe now that she's woken up, it's a good idea." I stood as Tank looked down at Tabby. "Plus, she's a lot stronger than any of us thought. Shit, she just handed us all our asses."

"Tell the guys to get an apartment ready for her. Tell Ella that I'm bringing her up. I'm taking her out of here, tonight. Bobby can come see her there. Hey, she's gonna need something to wear when we go. Get something together." I walked towards the door. "I need to talk to Morelli. You and I will bring her home in the Escalade." Tank nodded and followed me to the door. "Tank.." He turned as he was stepping out the door. He looked back at me. "Thanks."

"Anytime, boss. Anytime."

Peeking my head out the opened door, I called for Morelli. He came in with a huge grin on his face.

"How you feeling, Ranger?" He asked coyly. "She kicked your ass, man."

"Shut it, Morelli." I said. "I'm taking her back to Rangeman. She can't be here, it's not safe. We need to figure out exactly why she is here. She's running from something. Vinnie said that she was looking for me when she stopped by the bond's office. Did you guys pick up her car?"

"Yeah. It's in the impound. It hasn't been searched yet, but we were planning on it." Morelli shifted his weight from one foot to the next. "I can't let you take her out of here without her or the doctor's consent, you know that."

"Let me worry about that, Cop." I said, flipping open my phone and dialing Zero.

"Yes, boss."

"Go pick up Tabby's car at Trenton PD's impound lot." I turned to Morelli. "What kind of car is it?"

"It's a brand new Chrysler 300. Black."

"Chrysler 300. Black. Brand new. Out." I flipped my phone shut. "Morelli, where's her personal belongings. The ones you found at the crime scene?" Morelli walked over to the closet by the door, and pulled out a leather purse. He tossed it to me. I caught it and set it on the table by the end of the bed.

"I'm going to have a chat with the Doc and see what I can do. Plus, I will call impound and let them know Zero's coming." He started walking out the door. "Oh, I talked with that nurse, and she's not going to press charges. She's a little shaken up, but understands. You might want to have a fruit basket or some shit sent over for her."

I smiled and nodded. A fruit basket wasn't what I was thinking, maybe some sort of monetary compensation, and a nice donation to the hospital. "Joe." I said. He turned and looked at me. A 'thank you' was at the tip of my tongue. "Don't tell Babe that I got my ass handed to me by a girl."

He smiled. "Too late." And he was gone.

"Shit." Cursing under my breath.

***************************Tabby POV *****************************

I woke up to see the cop leaving my hospital room. Ric called after him.

"Joe. Don't tell Babe that I got my ass handed to me by a girl."

Joe smiled. "Too late."

As Joe left, I heard Ric say "shit" under his breath.

"I don't think that it's that bad to have your ass kicked by a girl…especially since I am the girl." I said pulling myself up into a sitting position. Ric smiled. "I am a pretty bad-ass chick, you know."

He came over to me, put my hand in his and kissed my forehead. "Yes, Tabb. You are the baddest chick I know."

"Good, as long as we are on the same page." I smiled as a laugh rumbled through his chest.

He pulled the guest chair tightly against the bed. "Tabb, I need to ask you some questions."

"Okay, shoot."

He took a deep breath. "Tabb, I need to know about the baby. Who's the father? Where is he? Why are you here looking for me? How'd you get messed up with Thayer?" I put up my hand to stop the onslaught of questions. Ric snapped his mouth shut, worry flashed across his face and then became calm. "Sorry."

"Well, I'm not going to talk about the father right now. He's away, but I can reach him whenever I need to. We aren't a couple..in the traditional sense…shit, no sense at all really. I came looking for you because I need your help; at least until the baby is born then I will be okay. As for Thayer, he grabbed me outside that sleazy guy's bond agency. I didn't know him from Adam. But he sure as hell knew you, and didn't like you at all." He watched me as I spoke, and sat in silence when I was done. Then he took my face in his hand, and kissed me gently on the lips.

"I'm so sorry, Tabby." Ric stroked my cheek. "I didn't know about Thayer until the day Morelli found you. We are going to take care of him though…he's not getting away with any of this."

I smiled, and grabbed the back of his head, pulling our foreheads together. "I know, Ric. I can't blame you. You didn't do this, and I know that you didn't know. I just wish that I had forced that damn Plum guy to contact you. I was scared that you might not come if I called."

He lifted her chin so we were eye to eye. "Nothing would make me want to not come for you."

I pulled his hair, and smiled. "Such a flirt…even with a woman you haven't seen in ages, and who's knocked up." The smile dropped instantly.

"Tabb…I gotta tell you something. I don't want to, but I have to." He took a deep breath, grabbing both my hands in his and staring into my eyes. His were soft and filled with concern and compassion. "The baby is gone." My heart stopped. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "When you arrived here you were bleeding a lot. The baby had died in the womb a few days before they found you. They had to perform an emergency D & C to remove it. I'm sorry, love, I am."

My hands immediately flew to my stomach. Tears rolled down my cheeks. The baby…gone. I felt my head spin, and the overwhelming feeling to run twitched my legs. When I finally spoke my words were barely audible. "No." I clasped my hands over my mouth. "Please, Ric. No…my baby?" Ric curled up next to me and wrapped his arms around me. Sobs came freely, and tears ran down my face. Suddenly, a picture flashed into my head. Diesel. I stiffened, lifted my head and spoke."Ric, I need my phone." My words were cold and distant, like someone else was speaking them.

He got up off the bed, opened my leather purse, and pulled out my phone. "Tabb…who are you going to call…I mean…"

"Ricardo Manoso, give me my phone." I demanded, tears falling down my cheeks. He handed me the phone, and sat back in the chair next to the bed. Opening the phone I pressed the 'CONTACT' button. Diesel had labeled himself 'SEX GOD'. I pressed connect and put the phone to my ear.

"Tabb, where are you. I haven't heard from you in days..."

"St. Francis, ICU…now." I whispered into the phone. The other end went dead and I clicked it shut.

"Who did you call?" Ric asked, as I handed him back the phone. Before I could answer Diesel slammed in through the door and ran to my side.

"Tabby, what happened? Why are you? Where did you?" His voice trailed off when he saw Ric. "You!"

Ric shot to his feet. "What the hell are you doing here?" Realization hit him hard, and he turned to me. "Him? It's him?"

"I could kill you, Ranger." Diesel scowled, reaching across the bed and grabbing Ric by the collar. Ric pushed him back.

"Don't push me, freak." Ric growled.

"Enough." I shouted. "Ric, out. Diesel, sit." Both men sulkingly did as they were told.

Diesel sat next to me, worry and fear filling his face. "Tabby…please….what's going on?"

"Diesel, the baby is gone." I closed my eyes, waiting for him to start yelling. When there was none, I raised my head to see. His face was white, and tears were forming in the corner of his eyes.

"Wh..wha..what did you say?" he stuttered, grasping for my hand. "I didn't hear you right."

"Diesel, the baby is dead." I burst out into tears, covering my face with my hands. Shame and guilt radiating off me.

"NO." he said quietly. "This can't be." I moved my hands and looked in his eyes. "Show me."

Diesel can't read my mind, no Unmentionable can. I have the ability to block any attempt at it. But I do have one thing; I can share experiences and memories. The thought of Diesel having to see what I remember happening to me was horrifying.

"Please Diesel, you can't. It's….Please; I can't hurt you like this." I sobbed. He grabbed my hands, and placed them on either temple.

"Show me." His voice was gruff. "I need to know what happened." I nodded and took a deep breath. The memory began when I left the coffee shop. I felt him jump, cringe, and could feel his heart racing. Everything I saw, he saw. Everything I felt, he felt. I pulled my hands away when the cop found me in the basement. He was panting hard, almost choking on the raw emotions of my memory. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him close to me. He was soon shaking with tears. I shushed him, running my fingers through his hair. After a few minutes, he took a deep breath and looked into my eyes.

"Call him in." he whispered.

"Ric." I yelled, and he walked into the room. His hands were on his hips and his expression was hard. When his eyes landed on Diesel, it softened. He knew that Diesel was feeling pain and didn't need to be reminded of how much they hated each other.

"Ranger." He stood, holding onto my hand. "Take her to Rangeman. Let her see Bobby. Keep her safe. I need to take care of some…business. Do not let anything happen to her." His voice became dangerously low, and scary. "I will come back and kill you if even a hair is harmed."

Ric nodded, and Diesel turned to me. Kissing me on the forehead he mouthed, 'I love you.' The whooshing sound came, and he was gone.

************************Ranger POV********************************

I walked out of her ICU room, and slammed my fist into the brick next to the door. I can't believe that Diesel and Tabby…I can't even think it. Damnit!

"Boss?" Tank said, walking over to me. "Was that Diesel I just saw?"

"Shit, Tank." I hung my head. "He was the father." Tank was silent. He knew how I felt about Diesel. He was wreckless and had a way of taking the women that he loved and throwing them in situations that were sloppy and dangerous. "As soon as he's done in there we are going to get her out of there."

"Not a problem. Ella and the men are almost finished with the apartment. Bobby is waiting there for us there." Tank pulled at a string on his shirt.

We waited in silence. I wanted to run in there, and beat the tar out of Diesel.

'How could he let her run amuck in her state? She was pregnant with his child, and he was fine with her gallivanting across the country by herself. If she had been my woman, carrying my baby…shit, Ricardo….don't even go there. It's all over between her and I. 'my thoughts were racing. 'I was so stupid for letting her go to him all those years ago, but I never thought that it would end like this.'

After a few minutes I hear Tabby softly call my name. My heart pounded in my chest as I opened the door and walked back into her room. Diesel turned and looked at me. He looked like hell, and I could only imagine what had happened while I was gone. The man was just told that the child that she carried was gone, and then how the death occurred.

"Ranger." He stood, holding onto Tabby's hand "Take her to Rangeman. Let her see Bobby. Keep her safe. I need to take care of some…business. Do not let anything happen to her. I will come back and kill you if even a hair is harmed." He then kissed Tabby and walked out the door.

"Tabb…" I said, walking over to her. She was pale and looked broken. I stroked her hair and kissed her forehead.

"Ric." She looked up into my eyes. "I don't have anything to wear. I can't go out in these."

"I got it, Tabb." I got up, jogged over to the door, pulled it open and whistled Tank over. "Do you have those clothes yet, big guy?"

He pulled a bag off the nurse's station and tossed it to me. "Zero just sent them over."

I caught the bag, and walked back into the room. Tabby was standing now, steadying herself with the side of the bed. I ran over to her as she swayed dangerously, catching her as she tipped.

"Thanks." She said, not meeting my eyes. I set her on the bed.

I dumped out the contents of the bag. There was a pair of soft gray yoga pants, a light pink t-shirt, white cotton underwear, a soft white bra, white socks, pink and gray sneakers and a plush gray zipper hooded sweatshirt. I smiled. Bobby obviously picked out her clothes. I saw a sad smile hit her face when the clothes were all laid out.

"Bobby." She said softly, reaching for the sweatshirt. "He always knew what I would want to wear. This is perfect." She looked up into my eyes, sadness and shame filling them. "I don't think I can get dressed by myself."

"Love, I am here. Let me help you." I reached for the bottom of the scrub top, and she lifted her arms over her head. As I slipped it over I saw the bruises, and the deep gouges that covered her body. She winced as her hair fell onto her back. I looked into her eyes. "Tabby, let me know if I hurt you." She smiled, and nodded.

I slipped the bra around her, slipping the straps over her shoulders and clasping it behind her back careful not to have it too tight. I slipped the shirt over her head next, gathering her hair in a pony tail at the top of her head and reaching for her purse. I know that I saw a hair tie in there, and knew that she hated having her hair down when she wasn't up to par. I found it, slipping it in place and laid her down gently on her back. She winced and covered her face.

"Tabb, it's okay." I put my hand on hers for a moment. Sliding the scrubs down her legs showed how brutal those men had been to her. Deep purple and black bruises covered the inside of her thighs and hips. I slipped the soft cotton underwear through her legs, and lifted her gently to pull them over her hips. That's when I noticed the bite marks. There were about a dozen deep marks on the back of her thighs and her butt. "Shit, Tabb." I whispered. Anger flashed stronger in me, making my hands shake as I pulled on the soft yoga pants.

"Ric." She said, putting her hand on mine sitting up. "It's okay. I'm fine."

"Tabby…I know your fine, but I can't help think about what they did to you." I shook my head, and continued getting her dressed. The socks and shoes were on in no time. The last thing I grabbed was the hoodie, and put her arms gently through it zipping it when I was done. "How does that feel? Okay?"

"Heavenly." She said grabbing her purse as she stood. "Let's get out of here."

I picked her up and carried her, loving the way that she snuggled into the crook of my neck and wrapped her arms around it. Her purse was lying on her lap. I reached down and pulled open the door, revealing Tank's enormous back.

"Hey, man. Let's go." As I spoke Tank turned around. He smiled at Tabby.

"Hey, angel." He said, reaching his hand out and touching her cheek gently. She turned her head and kissed the center of his palm, grasping it with her own hand.

"Hey Tank." Her voice was soft.

We filed down into the Escalade. Tank got into the driver's seat, while Tabby and I curled into the back seat. Wrapping my arms tightly around her, I looked at Tank's face in the rear view mirror. "Let's go home."

****************************Tabby's POV**************************

Curled up into Ric's arms in the back of the Escalade was like a drug. I was asleep before we left the hospital parking lot. I woke when Ric shifted, and the door opened up to reveal Bobby.

"Tabby Cat!" He exclaimed, pulling me from Ric's arms and wrapping his own around me tightly. I wrapped my arms and legs around my big brother. We were both crying, desperately trying to pull each other closer.  
"Let's bring her up to bed, Bobby." Ric said, putting his hand on Bobby's shoulder.

Without a word, Bobby nodded, and carried me to an elevator. We all got off on the fourth floor, and walked down to a door halfway down the hall. It was open so we just walked in. Walking through the apartment he brought me into a large bedroom. He set me down on a large, plush bed, pulling off my shoes and smoothing my hair. Turning to the others he spoke softly, "I'm staying here with Tabby. Zero is covering my shift. Close the door on your way out."

They all nodded, following his instructions. I watched as he walked over to the wall next to the door, and clicked it off. He walked over to the bed, kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed with me, curling tightly to me and wrapping him to me.

"Bobby, I'm sorry." I said after a moment of silence. "I didn't mean to be gone for so long. I couldn't get away...It wasn't that I..."

His voice broke when he interrupted me. "Tabitha, you are my sister and I love you. I know where you were, and what you were doing. I am glad that you are here now, that's all that matters." His arms wrapped tighter around me. "Now, get some sleep. You've had a rough couple of weeks."

"I love you, too." I said curling down into his arms and falling fast asleep.

*************************Bobby's POV***********************

I lay in bed cradling my baby sister. For the past five years I thought that she was dead, and here she was. There was so much that she had missed. Our mother passed away two years ago from a drug overdose. I know that it wasn't going to surprise her, but she was still our mother.

Ranger had told me what had happened to her. My blood was still running cold at the thought of someone doing those kinds of things to her. She was so small, so precious. Guilt over the fact that I hadn't protected her made me sick to my stomach. I know that she was tough, she had proved that when she took out not only Tank, but Cal, Zero and Ranger.

I squeezed her tightly against my chest, hoping that it would take away the burning that was there.

"Tabby Cat…" I whispered in her ear. "Bubbies is gonna kill who did this to you." I kissed her hair, closed my eyes and went to sleep.

********************Tabby's POV********************************

I felt a warm body pressed tightly against me, breathing on my hair, arms wrapped protectively around me, and legs intertwined with my own. I knew that it was Bobby. I opened my eyes. I was in a large bedroom, filled with over-sized furniture, a desk with a laptop on it, and a plasma screen on the wall adjacent to the bed. I sighed and gently lifted his arm off of me, and slipped my legs from his. He jumped slightly and snorted. Reaching my hand down to his hair, I drug my fingernails over his scalp softly. This always calmed him. We had grown up learning to comfort one another like this. Our mother was far from a saint, and often brought even less saintly people into our home to corrupt our lives, and abuse us. Even as teenagers, we shared the same bed. Mostly that was because our mother never was able to provide us with more than one.

He soon fell back into a deep slumber, snoring quietly. I stared down at him. He had grown quite a bit since I had seen him last, mostly in muscle. His hair was short, but still long enough to fall over his eyes when it felt unruly, which used to always be the case. He had new scars on his lip, chin and eyebrow. My face furrowed thinking about how he got them, and if there were more.

Standing up was a little more challenging then I had anticipated, but I had managed. I was still wearing the gray sweat suit that Ranger had dressed me in the night before. I was starving, and even though a hot shower and toothbrush sounded good, food sounded even better.

Opening up the bedroom door revealed a large living room with the same style of over-sized furniture as in the previous room. In the corner was a kitchenette. I padded my way over to it, quietly searching the cabinets and fridge. They were all empty.

"Hrmph." I grunted. "I need food." I headed back to the bedroom and found the sneakers that I had been wearing last night, slipping them on. I grabbed my purse off of the table by the door, and headed out making sure to note the apartment number on the door so that I could find my way back. I knew that I was at "Rangeman Headquarters", but I didn't know exactly what that had entailed. Was it just a bunch of apartments and offices, or was there somewhere with food. I looked down one hallway and then the next. There was an elevator. I looked at the button. It was worn around the "up" button, so I pressed it. I figured it was best to go where the biggest traffic would be. I didn't want to be caught somewhere I shouldn't be. Once inside I did the same, pressing the button to the 5th floor.

When the elevator doors opened, I gawked at the sight. There were whole walls covered with surveillance monitors with men sitting dutifully at rolling chairs in front of keyboards, cubicles, filled with men tapping away at computers and talking on phones, and everyone was wearing black. I stepped out. One of the men sitting in front of the monitor noticed me, and jumped to his feet. He had a black eye, swollen lip, and walked with a slight limp. He looked so familiar. As he came closer it dawned on me that he was one of the men that I had taken down in the stairwell. Panic rose up my chest as he walked towards me. Seeing my stress, he put up his hands.

"It's okay, princess." He said his voice soft and pleasant. "You are safe here. No one is going to hurt you." As he spoke, chairs creaked, and heads swiveled. All eyes in the room were on me.

"I….I…" My voice seemed to be stuck. I cleared my throat and tried again, standing taller. "I needed to get something to eat."

"I'll take you to the break room." He put his hand slowly towards the small of my back, using the other hand to guide me to the left. "It's not far." I nodded as we started to walk in the direction of the break room. "Cal, tell Ranger that sleeping beauty is awake and hungry. We will be in the break room." He called over his shoulder.

The break room was large with three black and silver Formica tables, a large stainless steel fridge, and cabinets to the ceiling. He led me to a chair, and motioned for me to sit. I did, placing my purse on the table with my hands gently over top of it.

"Would you like a sandwich, fruit, or maybe a salad?" He asked, opening the fridge doors. It was fully stocked with a huge variety of fresh fruits, pre-made sandwiches, vegetables, yogurt, milk and juices.

I nodded, and licked my lips. I must have looked absolutely starving, because he smiled and grabbed three sandwiches, two apples, two bananas, a pre-made boxed salad, and a large carton of milk. I watched wide-eyed as he set them down in front of me. I lunged at them, ripping open the packaging and biting down on a sandwich.

"Wow, princess." He laughed. "You must really be hungry."

Feeling self-conscience, I put the sandwich down and reached for the milk. "I am. I feel like I haven't eaten in weeks. "I could feel myself blushing.

"Beautiful, you eat all you want." He pushed the sandwich back to me. He had beautiful eyes. "It probably has been." I smiled at him, and realized that I didn't even ask his name, or introduce myself to him.

"My name is Tabitha, by the way. You can call me Tabby though." I took another large bite of my sandwich. I heard a small moan escape my lips, and immediately felt embarrassed. It was so good, and I was so hungry. He grinned and put out his hand and I took it.

"Lester Santos. You can call me Les or Santos or…. Frankly, you can call me anything you want." He kissed my knuckles; I felt the tiniest rake of teeth and the heat of his tongue sending shivers up my spine. "I am glad to see you up and about."

I looked at his face. He was extremely handsome and rugged. His eyes were lit with passion and a spark of mischief. His black eye and busted lip actually fit him, making him seem sexier in some way. "Sorry about that by the way." I said, pointing to the battle marks on his face. "I didn't know who you were."

"That's okay." He smiled flirtatiously. "I like it when a girl gets rough."

"SANTOS!" a familiar voice boomed behind me.

"Well, princess. It was nice meeting you." He stood, tapping his finger gently on the nose. "I hope to run into you soon….even if it's in a stairwell." He smiled, and walked out of the room.

Ric took Santos chair, plopping down in front of me anger rolling off of him like smoke.

"Lay off him, Ric. He's just being a man." I bit off another piece of sandwich. "Plus, after what I went through, and what I probably look like, it's nice to know that I still got it."

"Tabb…it's extremely inappropriate for him to be hitting at you. He's my employee." He ran his fingers through his hair with frustration. "I just can't imagine..."

"I beat the tar out of him yesterday, I'm sure that you can give him a break." Another bite, followed by a chug of milk.

He smiled, grabbing a sandwich off the table. "Hungary?"

"Yeah, starving." I grabbed at a banana, peeling it and took a big bite. With mouth still filled with food, I asked. "What day is it by the way?"

"Thursday." He said, swallowing and taking another bite.

"Really?" I said, taking another bite of banana. "I was only down there for two days? I shouldn't be this hungry."

"Love, you were gone for almost 2 weeks." He took the milk carton in front of me and drank. "So, eat up. You need to gather your strength."

I shook my head, and put down the food. "Shit, Ric." I pushed myself away from the table, and stood. Ric was at my heels. Why wasn't I freaking out about this? What was wrong with me?

"Tabb, what is it?" He turned me around to face him.

"I must be pretty fucked up, huh?" I asked putting my hands on his face. "I don't feel bad. Not really. I'm angry and feel pretty beat up, but I'm not traumatized or anything. I must be pretty fucked up to not want to curl up in a ball and cry."

His hands went to my face, pushing a stray hair back behind my ear. "You are one tough cookie, love. I don't know why you aren't…you could still be in shock."

"I feel like there was something off. It was like my memory of what happened was nothing more than a movie. I'm attached to it at all. I couldn't even remember what it felt like when it was happening. It's like it never happened, like…" my voice broke off. Oh, shit. I thought. Diesel.

"Tabb, like what?"

"He took it." I gasped, feeling the room tilt slightly, and my vision blur.

"Who took what, love?"

"Diesel.." I sighed heavily, almost sobbing. "He took it away." Ric stared into my face like I was crazy. I pushed past him, reached into my phone and pressed redial. It rang and then a familiar voice picked up.

"Why, Diesel?" I asked. "Why would you take the memory from me?"

There was a heavy sigh. "I had to. It's all I could do."

"No!" I yelled into the phone. My brain was twisting around what he had done. "You know the pain I felt, why would you want that burden. It would've gone away."

"Tabby, your soul was broken. I had to take it, otherwise…" his voice caught. "Otherwise, you would never be you again."

"Diesel, but you."

He cut me off. "You are all that matters. I can handle it. I'm a god amongst man, remember." His laugh was strained. "Plus, I am not going to keep it forever. I have plans."

"What do you mean, you have plans with it?"

"Later Tabby. I will come see you soon. Just watch those Rangemen…they have a way of crawling into sexy women's beds…if you know what I mean." 

He hung up. I looked at Ric. He looked as if I had gone insane.

"What the hell was that?" He asked, his eyebrow lifted in an almost painful expression.

I slumped down into the chair, and Ric followed my cue.

"It's complicated, but I will try to explain." I watched as he got comfortable, and nodded as to tell me to continue. "I have this ability to block other Unmentionables from reading my mind. It's kind of nice, since sometimes you don't want other people knowing what is going on up there." Ric nodded, smiling. "Well, I have this way of projecting my memories and thoughts to people with my touch." I placed my hands on Ric's temples, closed my eyes.

A vision of Ric and me naked rolling around on a blanket at the beach filled my head. The smell of the ocean, the sounds of birds and waves crashing on the shore, and the heat of our bodies slammed through the connection with Ric. He gasped, and then I could feel him smile. When we let go, he grabbed my hand.

"That was amazing." He whispered. "But that is definitely not what you showed Diesel."

"No." I said. "He told me to show him what had happened from the last time that I had seen him. When I did, he stole the memory and made it his own. He's feeling the trauma, and pain instead of me. I only have the visual; everything that connected me to it is gone." I put my face in my hands. "I can't imagine why he would want to feel that. He said that he had a better use for it."

"I am glad that he took it. You didn't deserve for this to happen, no one does. This is the closest thing to erasing it that he can do. I would do it if I could." Ric pulled my hands gently from my face, wiping a tear that had escaped. "Let him have this. His child was murdered, and his…." He stopped, unsure of what to call me.

"We aren't a couple, Ric." I sighed. "We never have been and never will be. I have a bit of a problem when it comes to relationships. It's like I am a man, never wanting to settle down. We use each other for company, if you understand where I am coming from." I blushed again and laughed. He smiled.

"Wow." He looked at me with soft eyes. "That's good to know."

"Yeah, a little embarrassing. I am such a whore." I giggled again. Ric joined me.

"You're not a whore." He pulled me into his lap. "But I will have to watch you like a hawk."

"Careful, Manoso. I still outrank you." I tapped him on the forehead.

"Only by a little." He embraced me, pushing away the discomfort and guilt that I felt. I am sure that Diesel knows what he is doing. He's a smart man. I just wish that he would let me know what the hell he was planning on doing with my memories.

"Ranger?" A head popped into the break room. Ric looked up and grimaced.

"What." He said flatly.

"Umm…Stephanie is here. Should we let her up?" The man seems absolutely terrified at the answer that he was going to give him.

"Yes." Ric sighed. He turned to me, and whispered. "We might as well get this out of the way."

"Who's Stephanie?" I asked as we stood, grabbing my hand. With the other hand, I grabbed the rest of my banana, taking another bite out of it as we walked out of the room.

"She's a…friend." He said, cryptically. "She's the wife of the cop that you met at the hospital."

"OOOH…was she just a 'friend'…or was she a '_friend'._ I smirked.

"I am not getting into this right now. Let's just say that I know her very well, and that we haven't really spoken since she married Joe." He pursed his lips as he walked into the main floor, and turned into a large masculine office.

"Oh. I see." I leaned up against the desk as he sat in the leather chair behind it. "So, is she here to scope out the female that kicked your ass?" I smiled and took another bite of my banana.

Smiling, he pulled the banana to his mouth taking a bite. "Probably."

Stephanie is only going to be a bit part in this story. I might bring her in a few times, but nothing too big. This is all about Tabby, Ranger and Diesel….and of course his Merry Men. I am looking forward to reviews, and suggestions. Please leave them!


	3. Chapter 3

***All characters are owned solely by Janet Evanovich, except for Tabby. This is my first try at fan fiction. I hope that you all enjoy it, and take the time to review. I would gladly answer any questions that you have, or any suggestions. ***************

***********************Stephanie's POV*********************************

It had been over a year since I had last set food on Rangeman property. Unsure of whether or not I was welcome, I stood hovering on the sidewalk. Taking a deep breath I pulled myself into the view of the cameras. The door clicked open, and I walked nervously to the stairs. I wasn't exactly sure why I had come. The curiosity of meeting the woman that can take down Ranger was definitely pretty strong, but I was more concerned with who this mystery woman really was. Ranger and I had made our peace the night before the wedding day to Joe.

*****one year ago****

I stood, brushing the sweat from my brow. It was extremely hot for April, and I was frantically trying to make sure I had everything for tomorrow. Tomorrow, I was going to marry the love of my life…Joseph Morelli. After years of flipping back and forth, I finally realized that in my heart or hearts I was meant to be with the boy from the 'Burg.

I ran my fingers down the lace bodice of my wedding dress hung on the back of my bedroom door. My luggage, recently gifted to me by Morelli as an early wedding gift, was spread across the bed and floor overflowing. I was excited to start our life together, but there was that lingering guilt wedging its way into my brain dampening the happiness I was supposed to be feeling. Ranger. When he found out that Joe and I were really going through with it he had gone "to the wind" yet again. Typical Ranger behavior, I thought. Running whenever his emotions were threatening to show. I sighed again, turning around to finish up the packing. I was pretty sure that I was done. We were going on a cruise for three weeks to Europe, and I was positive that I was over packed. I just wanted to be prepared for any type of situation. I began zipping the bags closed, sitting on some to squeeze the zipper closed. I smiled as I zipped the last bag. It was a small, D &G overnight bagged completely filled with sexy lingerie. Lula helped me pick out the majority of it, some of them were so risqué that I was almost too embarrassed to try on. I stacked all the bags in the corner of the room, and flopped exhausted on the bed closing my eyes.

I lifted my head when I heard a soft knock at my front door.

"Hello?" I said, walking up to the door and peeking through the security peephole. I gasped when I saw who it was. Ranger was standing in the hallway, staring at the tops of his boots. He was dressed in his typical Rangeman black, but today it was far from pristine. They were ripped, and covered with mud, sticks, and what I was hoping (but pretty sure) was blood, as was his face and hair. He lifted his eyes. His face was somber, and filled with an emotion I had never seen before. He was broken.

I flipped the security chain, and wrenched open the door.

"Ranger….what happened to you?" I grabbed at his arm, but let go the instant that he winced. I looked down at my hand, fresh blood covered it. "Get in here. Let me call Tank. You need to see a doctor."

"No." His voice was soft, but gruff. "I need to talk to you."

I waved my arm dramatically, motioning him to come inside. "Suit yourself, but if you die in my living room…I am going to kick your ass."

I followed his staggering footsteps into the living room where he leaned precariously against the wall.

"Please, Ranger, sit down before you fall down." I reached to grab his hand. He pulled it away, and took a seat on the farthest edge of the couch. "Okay?" I sat on the couch, one cushion away from him and waited. When he said nothing, I asked, "Ranger, please…talk to me."

"Babe." I had heard him say this word to me a thousand times. This time it seemed so painful for him. I slid over, grabbing his hand. I held tight to it as I felt him try to jerk it away. I looked into his eyes, touched his face with my hand. As if he were in more pain just being near me, he closed his eyes, sighed and began to speak.

"Tomorrow…" he sighed again. "You are marrying Morelli."

I nodded, pulling my hand from his face and rubbing the back of my neck. I remembered that the tingling sensation that I normally felt when he was near hadn't come.

"I have to tell you something before you do this." He intertwined his fingers with mine. I looked down at them, tears coming to my eyes. I know that I had hurt him, and hated myself for it. He cleared his throat. "I love you." His voice was so soft I could barely hear him. He cleared his throat again. "I know that Joe is better for you then I am. I can accept that, but I need to know if…." He cleared his throat again. "If you are doing this because I couldn't commit to you like you had wanted."

"Ranger, I…" My voice broke. He knew that if he would've asked me six months ago, I would have said yes. A lot has changed since then. So much so, that I don't think that I could be with anyone else. "I want you to know that I would have told you yes. I would have done anything that you wanted, been anyone that you wanted me to be. But now, there are more than just my reasons to marry Joe."

He looked up at me, a quizzical expression on his face. "Explain."

"Six months ago, you and I had our last night...do you remember?" I didn't want him to answer. When he opened his mouth to speak, I kept going. "You left my apartment telling me that you would never be able to give the things that I would want. Kids, a white picket fence, and all the other nonsense that you thought that I wanted…..But I didn't."

His mouth was still partly open; I felt his chest fill with air as if he were going to try to speak again. I kept going. "I didn't want any of those things. I wanted you, no matter what form it came in. I would have been happy just being near you, and being loved by you in your own way." I took a deep breath, calming myself. I didn't want to start crying, but I had to let him know. "You told me to go back to Joe. I waited for you to sneak back into my bedroom, or pop up behind me out on the street. But you didn't. I let you go, Ranger. Just as you did me. I gave you what you asked for….to be alone. "He closed his mouth, slumping his shoulders. "I went back to Joe, and it was great. I put my entire self into being with him. No more fantasizing about what I would never be able to have with you, but enjoying what I know that I can have with Joe. "

"Babe…I.." He grabbed for my shoulders to pull me to him. I put one hand on his chest to keep him at arm's length and a finger at his mouth.

"I am not done." I spoke sternly. He nodded, and dropped his hands. "I found out that I was pregnant a few months ago. " I felt the temperature of the room drop below freezing. His hands knotted in his lap, and his teeth ground together. "I am due in August. We are having twins."

He stood up and raked his hands through his hair. He paced back and forth in silence. I sat, waiting for his reaction to explode into anger, or relief...or regret…into something. After a few minutes of pacing, he stopped in front of me, reached down and pulled me into his arms tightly. I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him tightly against me as tears fell onto his dirty, ripped black shirt.

"Talk to me." I whispered between sniffles. Another few moments passed in silence, before he pulled me back just enough to be face to face.

"You love him, then."

"Yes, Ranger. I love him."

"Than this is the last time that I can do this." He put his chin in my hands, and bent down kissing me gently on the lips. It was not a deep, sensual kiss, or a ravishing sexual kiss, but a soft almost innocent one. He pulled away, brushing his hand over my cheek.

"I am sorry I hurt you." I said staring into his eyes. They were more at peace, but the hurt was still there.

"Stephanie Plum..." He laughed. "I have hurt you more than I can live with, and you are worried about me."

"Does this mean that I am never going to see you again."

"No." he said, wrapping tightly against me. "This just means that I have to respect the relationship that you and your….husband…have." We broke our embrace, and sat down next to each other on the couch. "Can you feel them moving yet?"

I smiled. "Yes, do you want to feel?" He nodded, and put out his hand. I lifted the bottom of my shirt so that the bump was visible. I heard him quickly suck in air as I placed his hand over the wiggling babies inside. "Can you feel them?"

"Sweet Mary Mother of God." He whispered, his eyes transfixed on my belly. "Yes. It's amazing."

"I want you to still be part of our lives, Ranger. I don't want to going out on suicide missions or hiding away from me. You're my best friend." He looked up at me and smiled.

"You are mine too, Babe." His hands were still on my belly. I watched as they jumped. "They must like you."

Leaning down, he put his ear to my belly. Closing his eyes he listened. Suddenly, my stomach growled, making both of us jump. I was embarrassed, and felt the heat rise through me, a sign that I was blushing. He laughed, kissing the belly tenderly.

"Angeles dulce, siempre velaré por ti. Su tío Carlos siempre estará aquí." He whispered softly.

"What did you say to them, Ranger?" I asked, running my finger through his hair. He sat up, looking into my eyes.

"Sweet angels, I will always watch over you. Your uncle Carlos will always be here." He blushed. Tears of happiness burst from my eyes as I wrapped myself around his neck. He embraced me. "I may need some time to deal with you and Joe being together, but I will a part of your life as long as you want me to be."

"Always, Ranger. I always want you in my life." He stood, breaking our embrace.

"I have to get going. You are already covered in this mess." He motioned down to his filthy clothes. I looked down at myself. He was right. I was covered. "I will see you before you see me. Congratulations, Stephanie." With that he walked out of my apartment door.

*************************************back at Rangeman************************

I haven't seen him since that night. I was told that he had shown up at the wedding, but hadn't seen him. Joe has seen him off and on, but mostly related to police business. The girls were visited by a "dark stranger" when they were in the NICU at St. Francis. This put the nursing staff in a tizzy, since they couldn't figure out how he could've gotten into the nursery without having a security badge, or know the code on the door. Gifts had been sent over by Rangeman, and on every holiday since they were born. He hadn't lied to them in my womb. Uncle Carlos would always be there….even if they couldn't see them.

Taking a deep breath I thought, as I walked into the control room.

"Hey, Bombshell!" Lester's voice boomed across the control room. Heads spun and chairs creaked.

"Hi, Les." I called as I walked past them and towards Ranger's office. Taking a deep breath, I knocked on the door.

"Enter." I jumped as Ranger's voice boomed through the door. Hearing giggling behind me, I turned giving them my favorite Italian hand signal, smiling and then turned back to the door.

"This is it Stephanie." I whispered as I pushed open the door and stepped inside.

*************************Tabby's POV*******************************

Stephanie was a beautiful woman, with brown curly hair and the brightest blue eyes. She was petite, and curvy. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail, and her eyes and face showed the obvious exhaustion of motherhood.

"Stephanie." Ranger said softly. He stood, walked around the desk and me to her, wrapping his arms around her. "How are the girls?"

"Fine." She stammered, obviously taken aback at Ric's gesture. "They miss their Uncle Carlos." She whispered, more than likely just for him to hear.

"It's so good to see you." He waved his arm to a chair in front of the desk. "Come sit down. Tell me what I can do for you." She sat nervously, glancing up at me with questioning eyes.

"Actually…" she cleared her throat, reaching deep for confidence. "I am here to meet the mystery woman."

"Ba..Steph…"I looked at him as Ranger corrected himself. I grinned at him when he saw I noticed his mistake. He cleared his throat, and then introduced me. "This is Tabitha Brown. She and I worked together in the Army." Nicely done, I thought. Leave out the fact that I was your superior, and your lover. I was right. This woman meant much more to him than he lead on.

"And she can obviously kick your ass." Stephanie said, calm as can be. "Which means that she is my kind of girl." Her smile widened as she watched Ric's eyes roll. "Someone once told me that I could give myself a stroke doing that."

Ric laughed, and scratched his hands through his hair. "Yeah…I guess that I picked up some bad habits from you after all didn't I?"

"Carlos, you have never had bad habits."

I couldn't help the giggle that escaped my mouth, even as I slapped my hand to cover it. They both looked at me, Ric incredulously, and Stephanie with amusement. "Sorry. I just couldn't help it. Ric is far from being without bad habits. He IS a bad habit."

"Tabby." Ric groaned.

"I like her." Stephanie said, smiling even wider. She turned to me. "How would you like to go somewhere this afternoon? I was going to head to the mall and do some shopping. My mother has the girls until six tonight, so I have all day."

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Ric said. I glared down at him; hoping icicles would shoot of my eyes.

"Ric. I am not a child." I said, standing up. "Stephanie, just let me find some clothes." As I started to walk towards the door, Ric grabbed my hand. Instinctively, I pushed an electric current through my arm and zapped him. He yelped throwing his hand from mine and swearing under his breath. I froze. It had been two months since I had been able to get my powers to work. I had assumed that it was my body's defense against itself so the baby wouldn't get hurt.

"Damnit, Tabby." He shook his hand in the air, and I came to him. Stephanie was staring dumbstruck at what had just happened.

"Shit, Ric." I grabbed his hand, struggling against him trying to pull away. "I can help, please. I didn't mean to do it."

He stopped struggling and winced as I opened his hand completely. There were blackened scorch marks where my hand had been in his. I winced as well when I could smell where the heat had burned him.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." I said over and over again, staring dumbly at his wounds and then his eyes, and back to his hand. I knew what was going to happen if I didn't stop it. As I reached for him, he pulled back his hand and reached over and pressed the call button on his phone.

"Tank! I need a medic." His words hissed through his teeth painfully. He glared at me, furrowing his eyebrows in pain.

"Stephanie okay, boss?" Tank's answer bounced out of the speaker.

"Yes! Damnit, Tabby got me." Ric's voice boomed out of his chest. He was angry, and in pain, and embarrassed. I watched in horror as the blackness crept up his hand and flowed up to his wrist.

Stephanie just sat frozen in her chair. She was grasping onto the arms of the chair like she would rocket into the air if she didn't. Bobby raced into the door, followed by Tank, Santos and Cal. Ric was pulling at my hand and asking me to let go. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, laying my hand over top of his.

"Tabby!" Bobby shouted. "Stop! I can take care of him. Just let him go." I shook my head and focused my energy on the heated skin underneath my own. I felt Ric tighten as the initial wave of energy flew between us.

"Get her off, Bobby!" Tank said, trying to pull me away from Ric. I stood my ground, holding tighter, pushing more energy through to his wounds. At this point, Santos, Tank, Bobby and Cal were desperately trying to release my grip. After a tense moment, he calmed, grasping gently on my shoulder to keep himself upright. When I felt him sag to the ground, I let go. I felt my body fly back, and held tightly around the shoulders. I didn't fight. Didn't open my eyes. There was a lot of yelling, and footsteps. Then silence.

"Tabb.." Ric's strangled voice sounded from the floor. I opened my eyes, to look at him. He was blank faced. I knew that look well. He was trying to cover up some sort of emotion that he felt would be considered weak.

"Tabby, what the hell was that?" Bobby whirled me around. It had been his hands holding me in place. "How the hell did you do that?"

"She's an Unmentionable." Stephanie gasped her hand flying to her mouth. My eyes grew wide, wrenching myself from Bobby's grip and ran full strength through the door. I hear voices behind me screaming to stop, but I wasn't going to. Now that they knew what I was, I wasn't going to be welcomed back. I stopped before I hit the stairwell, reaching into the break room and grabbing my purse before heading down the stairs and out the door.

************************Bobby's POV************************************

I watched in horror as my baby sister ran away from me. My legs didn't seem to be working properly. I screamed her name, begging her to stop. Ranger pulled himself up to me, and grabbed my hand.

"Let her go, man." He said quietly. "We'll find her."

***************************Tabby's POV******************************

I reached the garage sooner than I had thought. When I saw the Chrysler 300 that Diesel gave me sitting there, my heart leapt. I grabbed the door handle, praying that it would open. I knew how to hot wire it if I had to, but I needed to get in. It was unlocked…..and (JACKPOT!) the keys were in the ignition. Jumping in I flipped the key, slammed it into gear and roared to the gate. I stopped in front of it, praying that it would open magically. It didn't. I was pretty sure that Ric was just going to let me out on the streets of Trenton. I was a danger to society, and I knew damned well that he wouldn't think I belonged there. Leaning my head back on the headrest, I sighed.

"SHIT!" I yelled, closing my eyes to stop the tears. My hands squeezed the leather steering wheel, as I opened my eyes. There, on the visor, was a remote. "Thank you, Rangeman." I clicked the button on it and the door slid open. Slamming on the gas, I squealed the tires as I fled out into the unknowing streets of Trenton. I drove for about an hour before I figured that it was safe for me to pull over and make my call. I was still in Trenton, or at least a suburb. I stopped at a little mom and pop gas station and filled the tank. I grabbed my purse and walked into the gas station.

I bought some beer, two packs of Marlboro lights 100s, a lighter, three bags of Doritos, a big bottle of water, a Mt. Dew and a Caramello bar. Pushing the paper bag full of goodies onto the passenger seat, I flipped open my phone and called Diesel. While it was ringing, I packed my smokes and opened the package. The look on the clerk's face was priceless. His eyebrows rose, and I knew that he was dying to ask what the hell had happened. I just smiled, and pushed the money towards him.

"Howdy!" Diesel said cheerfully. "How's it going?"

"Fucking Fan-Tab-U-Lous!" I said dramatically. "I fucked up. You need to come and get me." I stepped out of the car, keys in my pocket, smokes and lighter in my hand. Clicking the doors shut, I lit up my smoke.

"What the hell was that?" Diesel said. "Why aren't you at Rangman?"

"Don't worry about it. Where are you?" I said, taking a long needed drag from the smoke. It had been over three months since my last cigarette. Diesel hated when I smoked.

"Working, but I need to talk to you." He sighed. "I will meet you at the Waterfront Park at sunset. I'll find you. Be safe, and damnit, Tabby, put that smoke out."

I purposefully blew smoke into the phone wishing that he could see. "Right. I'm always safe. It's other people that aren't. Later."

I flipped the phone shut, and finished the smoke. This was fucked up. I finally found Ric and now he thinks I am the devil. Great! And Bobby…my heart sunk coldly in my chest….he knows what I am. I sighed, throwing the butt on the ground, stomping it with my sneaker. I stared at my sneaker. I needed to get something different to wear, someplace to shower, and relax for a bit. I got back into the car, pulling out onto the road and headed back into main Trenton to find a hotel.

***********************Ranger's POV*******************************

"Ricardo Manoso!" Stephanie Plum-Morelli screamed across the desk at me. I winced. My head was pounding, even with the ice pack Bobby had so graciously gave me. The cool breezy feeling still hovered over my arms where Tabby had "zapped" me, but other than that they were fine.

"Steph…" I sighed. "I am not in the mood. Go home. Play with your babies, kiss your husband, and make lasagna."

"You prick!" she screamed at me. Picking up the closest thing she could find and throwing it at my head. It missed by a mile, and hit the wall with a thud. "Oooo...you make me so mad. How could you just let her walk out the door without even trying to stop her?"

She had been screaming like this for the past hour, which was better than what Tank and Bobby were doing. They hadn't said a word….hadn't even looked me in the eyes. I knew that I handled the situation badly. I was going to find her. I am sure that with some of Thayer's men still out there they aren't going to just let her walk away. Especially since Thayer was sitting happy in jail.

I flipped open my phone and pressed Morelli's number.

"Yes?" Morelli said as he picked up the phone.

"Come get your wife." I said, hanging up the phone and looking up at Stephanie. She had grown deathly quiet.

"I can't believe you did that." She whispered mouth agape.

"I told you. I am not in the mood." I turned from her, and stalked out the office door slamming it behind me. My blank face had been put in place since Tabb left. There were too many raw emotions flinging themselves around my head. I needed to get Stephanie out of here; it was still too fresh with her. I couldn't stand seeing her glowing like she was. Her figure showing the recent birth of the twin girls that should have been mine. I just couldn't handle having her here, now. I know that it was a low blow, but she needed to go home and be with her family.

*********************************Tabby POV********************************

My muscles still ached, and my head was swimming. I was glad that the wounds on my back were scabbed over, and the butterfly bandages were easy to dismiss. It was the yellowing bruises, and swollen face that caused the alarm.

I pulled into a parking spot in front of a cute little bed and breakfast right off the main path in Trenton. I checked into my suite, pleasantly surprised at how private it actually was. It was large with a sitting room equipped with a large plasma television, a soft leather couch, end tables and book cases filled with beautiful décor and a small bar stocked with a mini-fridge, microwave and small sink. The bedroom had a large four-poster king size bed covered with luxurious bed covers, and large dressers, bedside tables, a television, and a large mirrored dressing table. There was a small closet off the to the left hand side of the television, which was directly across from the bed and the bathroom door was on the wall next to the bed. When I walked in the bathroom, my breath caught. There was a large Jacuzzi tub that looked like it could seat 10 people, a double shower equipped with what looked like hundreds of sprayers from top to bottom, a toilet, and a large double sink with big globe lights.

"Thank god for Diesel." I whispered. The cash that he had put in the envelope at the coffee shop was well over $10,000, which was more than enough for a month's stay in this palace. The money in the glove box consisted of bundled $100 dollar bills that I had yet to count. I had planned on putting it in a security box at a small bank down the street. I had a fake ID that I knew Diesel had secured for me.

I longingly looked at the shower, but decided that I was going to need some clothes before I did anything that involved taking off clothes. Once these things came off, I thought, there was no way I was putting them back on dirty. I grabbed my purse, and headed to the door, locking it before shooting back down the stairs to the parking lot.

"To the mall!" I said, pulling onto the street and jabbing the GPS to guide me. It wasn't far, so it took me all of 15 minutes to get there. I strolled into the sliding doors and breathed in. God, I missed shopping.

After 5 hours, and a couple of grand later I packed huge bags from Spencer's, Victoria's Secret, Foot Locker, The Gap, The Buckle, Bath and Body Work's, and Macy's into my trunk pushing the cardboard box and duffle bag out of the way. As I was hopping in the car, I heard a voice behind me.

"Tabitha?" I woman's voice called.

I turned, frantically scanning the parking lot before setting my eyes on her. Stephanie Plum-Morelli was standing behind a red Dodge Caravan. She looked as though she had just stuffed a few large bags from Children's Place and Baby Gap into the back. She swung her purse on her shoulder, her other hand locking the doors and she strolled over to me. I slammed the trunk lid, and cautiously stepping towards her. When we were a few feet apart, I spoke.

"Um...Hi, Stephanie." I said, kicking the toe of my sneaker at a rock.

"Tabitha, " she started to say something and then stopped, flittering her hands in front of her face like she was trying to erase something in her head. "Have you eaten? I would love to stop and have some pizza, but hate eating alone."

I was starving, but nervous. I looked over at her. "You aren't afraid to go with me. I mean, you saw what I did to Ric...I mean Ranger."

She smiled, putting her hand gently on my shoulder. "I have been waiting for someone to put him in his place for years. It was a little scary, but I could tell you didn't mean to hurt him badly."

Smiling, I put my hand on hers. She didn't flinch, which eased my mind even more about my answer. "I would love to. Let's take my car, and you can give me directions. I need to get used to driving here."

She nodded, and we walked back to my car. I unlocked it as we reached it, and slid into the driver's seat, her mimicking on the passenger side. "Where am I going?" I said as I turned the ignition, and pulled out of my parking space. Her directions were good, always telling me well enough in advance when to turn and using street names to help me acclimate myself. We arrived in front of a small pizza joint. The smell coming out of it was absolutely divine. She smiled and got out of the car, pulling her purse up over her shoulder.

"Just wait until you taste it. It's like heaven."

We found a table quickly. It was too late for lunch rush and too early for the dinner crowd. Stephanie ordered for us both, as I wasn't sure what was good, and frankly everything sounded too good. She folded her hands in front of her as the waitress brought us our drinks, me a beer and her an iced tea.

"So…" she started. "We need to talk."

"Great." I muttered.

"I just met you." She said. "But I have a feeling that you and I could be good friends. I wanted you to know that I bitched out Ranger for not coming after you when you left this morning. He was being an ass, and it seemed like I was the only one willing to say something." She smirked, like she has had to do this before.

"Thanks, but I am pretty sure that the whole mess was my fault. If I would have just kept my head out of my ass to begin with I wouldn't be in this debacle." I took a long swig of my beer, it was cold and amazing. It was the first alcohol that I had since I found out I was pregnant. "God, this is good."

She giggled. "If I wasn't breast feeding, I would be right there with you. Although, after two of them, you'd see me dancing braless on the bar with my skirt up over my head."

I laughed loudly. "Somehow I could see you being an amateur stripper."

"Can I ask you something?" she said quietly, leaning down onto the table towards me. I nodded, looking at her quizzically. "You are Unmentionable." I nodded again. Pulling the beer again to my lips. "Do you know Diesel?" My hand stopped, and I set the beer gingerly back on the table.

"What did Ric tell you?" I asked, closing my eyes and praying that she knew nothing more than my status as an Unmentionable.

"I know that you were pretty beat to shit when Joe found you. I know that you are "special". "Her fingers made quotation marks. "I know that Diesel is the same, and thought maybe you knew each other." I sighed. Thank God.

"Yes, I know Diesel. We were partners." I swigged the beer, and watched as the waitress set down a huge pizza with everything but dancing bears on it. We both dug in, devouring two slices before either of us spoke again.

"Were you two ever…involved?" She asked, her eyebrows waggling suggestively. I groaned, and pulled another piece of pizza. "Sorry. You don't have to answer if it's too personal. But that Diesel, damn he is hot."

I smiled. A girl after my own heart. "Yes, Diesel and I have been intimate. Never had a relationship. Neither of us are really "relationship" material. But it was fun, while it lasted." She smiled, and I could tell that she had millions of questions flying through her mind. Before she could ask, I spoke. "So, how do you know Diesel?"

"He used to pop into my apartment from time to time, make a mess of things and then pop back to God only knows where." She grabbed another piece of pizza.

"Typical Diesel." I watched as she ate. I loved the way that she enjoyed each bit of food, like it was the first time she had ever had it. Like I used to eat, before I became who I am now. "Now, can I ask you some questions?"

She nodded, pulling a drink from her iced tea and wiping her face gingerly with a napkin. "Shoot."

"Were you and Ranger a thing?" The minute I said it, she flinched. Yep, they had been. I knew Ranger. He was a man of convenience, and I knew that he wouldn't associate with a woman very long before the curiosity to have her took over. He never kept them around though, and this one was still in his life (one way or another) and didn't seem to be leaving any time soon.

"He and I were never really a thing. We just worked together. He was my best friend, and he considers himself an uncle to my baby girls. It just wasn't there for us, you know?"

"Yeah, I understand that. You and I seem to have two men in common." I took the last swig of my beer waving it at the waitress to bring me another. Stephanie looked at me questioningly. "Diesel and Ri...Ranger."

"I never had Diesel, but I woke up with him lying naked on top of me more times than I care to admit. Ranger and I had a few flings." She smiled. "So…I would love to know. Between the two, who would you saw was more…let's say…exciting in bed?"

I laughed. I liked her. "Ranger, definitely. Diesel is fun sex, lots of experimenting, and laughing. Ric is more …well, just more everything. I'm sure you know how attentive to detail he is." I smiled, coyly as her face flushed. Yeah, she knew.

"Oh, yeah." She breathed. "I remember."

Silence fell over the table. I knew that she was imagining the last time she was with him. Ric had that affect on women. The waitress traded my empty beer for a full one.

"So, did you have fun shopping?" She finally said. "You seemed to have a lot of bags."

"Yeah, it's been a while. I don't have anything, and need to replace stuff. Plus, there were so many cute things." I looked into her eyes. "You aren't going to tell him that you saw me are you?"

She sighed heavily. "No. But I wish that you would go back to Rangeman. It's safe there, and I know that he's worried about you."

"I don't know about that." I curled the paper off of my beer. "I need to talk to Diesel and then I am going to figure out what I am going to do. I need a job, and find an apartment. I don't want to go back to where I was, and I am sure as hell not going back to Ric's. He really doesn't want me to be there. I just feel bad about Bobby."

"Bobby?" She asked.

"Bobby is my brother." I saw her face as I said this. Bobby is a big, black man, and I was a fair skinned half-Latino. I sighed. "We have the same mom, but different fathers. We used to get that a lot."

She laughed. "Bobby is a good guy. He's always patched me up when I've blown up something, fallen on my face over something stupid, or been smacked around by FTAs."

"FTAs?" I asked, looking at her up and down. "You were a bounty hunter?"

"Yeah, I know it's hard to believe. It was fun, and I wish that I could go back into it. "She pulled out her cell phone, and smiled as she saw who was calling her. "Guess whose calling?"

"Shit." I said, leaning back into my chair. "Please don't tell him we're here."

She flipped open the phone, and said hello, followed by some "uh-huh"s and a grunt.

"Listen, Ranger." She finally spat into the phone. "If I happen to see your mystery woman I wouldn't call you unless she wanted me to. You are being an ass." Another grunt, and "uh-huh" and then she flipped it shut. "What an ass!"

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"He asked me to be on the lookout for you. Telling me that you are dangerous, and not to talk to you." I grimaced. He thought I was a monster. "As you heard, I told him that I wasn't going to just call him and let him know if I saw you, because he was in the fault here. He told me that I was endangering my girls. That's when I hung up."

"Fuck." I whispered under my breath. I looked up at her, touching her hand with mine. "I hope that you understand that I would never hurt anyone intentionally…well, that's not entirely true…I wouldn't hurt anyone without justifiable reason. Especially not you or your babies."

"I know." She grasped my fingers lightly, almost like a hug for my hand. "I have to get going. My mom needs me to pick up the girls before Bingo. Let me give you my phone number. I will let you know if I hear anything from the guys about you, and I want you to call me if you need me for anything. Even to talk. I like you."

"I think your pretty cool yourself, Stephanie." I smiled, and pulled out my phone. We exchanged numbers, discussing that it would probably be best if she didn't put my name under the contact on the number. We decided to put me as "Brittany The sitter".

We split the pizza and I paid for my beers. Filing out of Pino's I stopped her as we got into the car.

"Stephanie, did your husband happen to tell you exactly what happened to me?" I was curious to know if she was going to put the pity act on me when she found out. If she didn't know, I was going to tell her myself, so she understood that I was really okay.

"Yeah." She said, her face twisting in sympathetic pain. "Joe told me, but I want you to know that I am not going to treat you like you are made out of glass. You are tough as nails. Shit, you can kick Ranger's ass, and he's the toughest guy I know. Just know that I am here if you need anything."

I smiled. "Thanks."

We got into the car and drove back to the mall. I waved as she slipped into her van and I drove off. I still had one more place I wanted to stop, wanted to get showered, and dressed before heading to the park to meet up with Diesel.

I reached the Super Target about 20 minutes later. I filled my cart with various goodies including; bottled water, juice, milk, cereal bars, and toiletries. After I had gotten everything I thought I could need for the next couple of days I got into my car and headed back to my new "home".

I pulled into the parking space at the B&B, pulled out all of the bags, including the duffel bag, and struggled up the stairs to my room. It was only 7 pm, so I had time to get some things done before I left. I pulled all the clothes out of the bags, took of the tags, and put them away, leaving out a pair of low-rise flares, socks, black tie up boots, a form-fitting charcoal t-shirt, brown leather jacket and a pink bra and panty set from Victoria's. Carrying the bag filled with the various soaps, lotions, and other necessities emptied them neatly onto the counter.

I peeled off my clothes and stepped into the shower. The water instantly melted day's worth of stress and pain from my muscles and pounds off of my soul. I shaved careful not to break open any scabs that were there, shampooed and conditioned my hair. When the water started to get cool, I groaned and stepped out into the bathroom; shivering as the cold air hit me. Toweling off, I finally took a look at myself.

I was covered in bruises in various stages. The majority of them were yellowing and fading, but there were more than enough deep purple ones to prove that I hadn't had the best time of my life. I turned to see my back. The cuts were healing, but still had scabs covering the wounds that I am sure hurt like a bitch when I got them. DAMN DIESEL! I thought. The memories of my abuse were nothing to me. Looking at myself in the mirror was like seeing someone else. I wasn't really in any pain, and even the pangs in my stomach had dulled to a roar.

I knew enough first aid to understand that my uterus wasn't going to be healed for another 5 weeks or so, and that the aches and pains that I were feeling proved how lucky I really was. No broken bones, no skull fractures, no internal bleeding. I knew that I had superficial tears in my nether region, but those too had healed to a small swollen mass of scar tissue. The memories that I saw proved that I hadn't been sexually assaulted for a few days before I was found. They must have given up on me.

I shook my head, pulling myself back into the present. It was so awkward not feeling afraid, or angry, or related at all to the events that I knew happened to me. I quickly lotioned up my body, breathing in the soft scent of Sweet Pea before pulling on the clothes that I had set aside. I started opening up the make-up that I had gotten at Macy's and begin to make my face feel a little closer to normal. The bruises, for the most part, covered up fairly easily. There was just a slight swelling over my eye, and a busted lip that weren't camouflaged. I brushed out my hair, sweeping it into two long French braids on either side of my head. My hair was long, touching the center of my back even tightly braided. Maybe I would cut it off...I thought, before shaking my head and smiling.

I slipped on my boots, grabbed my purse and keys and locked up before heading down to my car. I parked under some trees in a remote part of Waterfront Park. I slipped out of the car, slipping the 9mm I found under the driver's seat this afternoon, and pulled out my smokes. I lit up, and stalked towards the benches that sat in front of the river. It was peaceful with the sun slowly beginning to set in front of me. I slammed down onto the bench, crossing my feet at the ankles, leaning back and enjoyed the view.

I just lit up yet another cigarette, after chain smoking half a pack, when I heard a sigh behind me.

"Tabb, I thought I told you to quit." Diesel's voice was stern, but I could tell he was smiling.

"Well, I can't get laid for a couple more weeks, so you're just going to have to accept it. Unless you want to take the healing time away too." I stood, taking a drag off the cigarette, before stomping in beneath my boot and wrapping my arms around him. He embraced me, pulling me up off my feet and wrapping my legs around his waist.

"How you doing, love?" He asked into my hair. He smelled amazing, as usual, like Christmas.

"I'm good." I snuggled into him, enjoying the warmth and sighed. We stood there for a moment just holding one another when Diesel cleared his throat.

"So, are you gonna tell me what's going on?" he pushed back my braid, tugging playfully. "Or do I have to beat it out of you?" Another big sigh escaped me, and I tipped my head to look into his face.

"I kind of zapped Ric." I spoke softly. A sinister grin spread across his face, and patted my head.

"That's my girl."

"It's not like that. I didn't mean to. I was going to go out, and he didn't like it. When I was walking away from him, he grabbed my hand. It was instinct. I didn't mean to."

"He grabbed you." Diesel's voice was matching his devilish smile. "Does this mean I get to kick his ass?"

"Diesel!" I pushed against his chest playfully. "It was nothing like that. But….I didn't mean to get him that bad. It spread up his arm. Everyone was frantic when I reached out to pull back my energy. I think they thought that I was going to hurt him again. When I fixed it, he was pissed, and everyone stared at me like I massacred an entire orphanage. So, I ran."

"Well, you need to go back." He spoke so matter-of-factly that it made me do a double take of him.

"What!" I was stunned. Diesel telling me that I had to go back to Ric. He knew what it was like to feel like an outsider, and to be considered a threat. I took a step away from him. "I am so NOT going back."

"Tabb. There's something that I actually need to talk to you about. It's some pretty crazy shit." He sat down on the bench and patted the seat next to him. I crossed my arms over my chest, pouting. "Tabitha..Please. This isn't something that I can say to you when you're having a hissy fit."

I slammed down onto the bench so hard that the wood creaked and chunks of it fell onto the ground beneath us. "There happy."

"Yes." Diesel said, obviously please with my obedience. I turned to look at me. "I know what happened; how you got taken without sensing it."

I turned my body towards him. "I'm listening." I knew that, with my memories planted into his head he knew the doubt I held that day.

"Thayer had assistance getting you. One of our own, if you wanna call him that." He reached out for my hand, and I gave it to him. "Grady was the one that zapped you. It wasn't a taser, and he was the reason why you couldn't use your powers." I began to speak but he cut me off. "It wasn't just the baby, love. Your pregnancy wouldn't have taken them completely away, just lessened their effect. "

"Why would he do that?" I asked rubbing the soft skin between his thumb and finger.

"I don't know." He looked defeated. It wasn't often that Diesel didn't know what was going on, and why. "All I know is that he is still off the grid. It's not official yet, and I don't know if it will be. You know where he stands in the ranks. I am working on it though. I just need to know that you are safe, and Ranger will be able to help you."

"Diesel, I can't go back there. They think I'm a monster." I lowered and shook my head. "I just can't be there." He lifted my chin with his finger and looked into my eyes.

"Love, you have to be safe. We lost our son. I can't lose you too." He smiled and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Fine." I lied, pulling myself into his arms. "I'll go back." I hated lying to him, but the fact that Grady was out to get me didn't make me want to endanger anyone.

"Thank you." He took my hand and stood, lifting me to my feet. "I want you there tonight. I have to go back to headquarters, but I will call you." He pulled me into a toe tingling kiss, and then winked. "Later."

I watched as he walked down the path a short distance and then whooshed away. This wasn't good, but I knew that I had to keep not only myself, but Ric and their men safe…and Bobby. God, my Bubbies. I rubbed my eyes nervously. I have to contact him, but not tonight. I needed to get some supplies and figure out a plan of action. Dashing to my car, I flipped out the keys, unlocked the doors and drove off.

I needed to think and sleep. I pulled into the B & B, parking between a dumpster and the wall behind the building. This way it would only be seen if you got out of your car and looked. It wasn't visible from the street, or neighboring buildings. I grabbed the beer out of the back seat as well as the goodies that I got at the gas station, ran up the stairs and into my room.

I pushed the bag of goodies on the bar, put the beers- minus two- in the fridge and headed for the bedroom. I was locked in my room with the TV on and a beer in my hand. The last three months events swirled around in my head. This was not good. I was broken, in hiding, and lying to my best friend. My brother was sitting-thinking God knows what- and I was here….alone. I finished the beers, slipped into the PINK Victoria's Secret pajamas I had gotten today, and fell asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

***All characters are owned solely by Janet Evanovich, except for Tabby. This is my first try at fan fiction. I hope that you all enjoy it, and take the time to review. I would gladly answer any questions that you have, or any suggestions. J***************

*******************Ranger's POV**************************

It had been two weeks since Tabitha ran out of Rangeman. There hadn't been even a whisper of her. I knew that she was stealthy, but I had a bad feeling. The fact that Diesel wanted her to stay here told me that she was in more trouble then maybe even she knew. We had scoured the city for her, but always came up empty handed. This didn't surprise me. I knew the training that she had, well….most of it. As a part of our Special Forces team she was pretty tough, but the training (and the control of those powers of hers) made her like smoke. I hated feeling inadequate.

I slammed my hand down on my desk. I finally got a hold of her again, and she was gone. I flexed my fingers on the hand that she had zapped, and cursed. I had been an asshole. I know that she hadn't done it on purpose; in fact if anyone was to blame it was me. She had been brutally raped and beaten, lost a child, and reunited with her brother (and me) after years of nothing. Why did I grab her like that? I raked my hands through my hair, wanting to kick my own ass. There was a knock on the door.

"Enter." My voice boomed to the door.

Bobby opened the door, and stepped inside. I sighed, and waved him over to me. He hadn't spoken more than to confirm acknowledgement of daily orders since she ran out.

"What can I do for you?" I asked, my voice solemn…guilty.

"I want to take a couple days off, boss." He said coldly. "I want to go find Tabby. I know that I will be able to. She's not afraid of me."

"That's fine, Bobby." I stood up and walked towards him. I felt him tense, his shoulders and chest puffing out defensively. I sighed heavily, and gently placed my hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Bobby. I know this shit is all my fault. I was an ass, and there wasn't any excuse." He nodded, and smirked. I never apologized, and I knew that he was reveling in it. "Just let me know if you need any help. She will be safe here. I will try my damnedest to prove to her that she is welcomed."

"Thanks." Bobby said, putting out his hand to shake. I shook my head and pulled him to me. We embraced, patting each other on the back. Bobby was like a brother to me, and Tabby…well, she was part of me that's for sure. When we parted, he looked at me intently. "Ranger, I know that she's in some crazy shit. I can feel it."

"I know, Bobby. I know." I shook my head and leaned against my desk. "I know you will be able to find her. Just, get her safe, bring her here, and we will figure out what to do together." He nodded.

"Thanks again, Ranger." He said, and walked out of my office.

***********************Stephanie's POV******************************

I slumped into the driver's seat of the van. I had been up since 2 am with the girls. Teething was a bitch. The first stop for me today was going to be Dunkin' Doughnuts. I needed coffee, and lots of it. I had just dropped off the girls at my mother's house. It had been short notice, but I knew that she didn't mind. I got my coffee and drove to the meeting place. I was pleasantly surprised to see "BRITTANY" on my caller ID at 5am this morning. It had been weeks since I had seen her, and had been wondering what she had been up to. I parked next to a giant oak across from the benches in Waterfront Park. It was only 10am, so there weren't a whole lot of people there yet. Mostly mothers walking with their babies in strollers, and people out for their dog's morning poo.

I got out, locking the doors and headed towards the park bench. I sat, closing my eyes for a second and taking a deep breath before diving into my coffee. I opened my eyes to see Tabitha walking slowly towards me. She was wearing jeans, a black tank top, leather jacket and boots. Her hair was pulled up into a soft bun with a few small wisps of hair falling on her neck and face. I stood up and smiled.

"Stephanie thanks for meeting with me." She said as she put out her hand. I took it shook it gently.

"Anytime." We sat back down on the bench and she turned to me.

"I need your help."

"I will do my best. What do you have in mind?"

"I need to break into Rangeman."

********************************Tabitha POV**********************8888

I smiled as her mouth dropped open.

"You can't be serious. No one can break into Rangeman. It's like Fort Knox."

"Well, then I definitely can." She smiled as I winked at her. "I need to get in touch with Bobby too. I am sure that he has been freaking out. Plus, I need to get into their research programs."

"I can do that. I used to do searches for Rangeman before Joe and I got married." She pulled out her cell phone and flipped it open. "I think I might even have Bobby's number. If not I have Lester's and I am sure that we could get it from him."

"Do you think that Ranger would let you just walk in and use the search programs?" I leaned over her phone. No luck with Bobby's number. She stopped a moment, and I could tell that she was trying to find a way to do this.

"Let me try something." She flipped back into her contacts and was about to make a call when I stopped her.

"Let me have Lester's number. I will try to get Bobby's number." She gave it to me and then went back to her phone call. I stood up and walked closer to the waterfront, pulling out my cell phone, taking a deep breath and dialing.

"Santos." A sexy male voice purred into the phone. I couldn't get my mouth to work properly. "Hello?" He said again, laughing slightly.

"Ummm…Hello?" I said, trying to sound breathy and sensual.

"Who is this?" His voice was less annoyed and more intrigued with the idea of a strange woman calling him.

"I got your number from a girlfriend of mine." I stammered, suddenly more nervous.

"Really? And who is this friend?" he purred into the phone. A shiver ran up my spine. I shook my head to clear it and then spoke.

"That really isn't important. I am actually calling about a friend of yours."

"What friend?"

"I think my girlfriend said his name was Bobby." I purred, trying to sound confident.

"Who is this?" his voice was demanding, less flirtatious.

"Shit." I whispered.

"How did you get this number?" He was starting to get angry. "You don't want to mess with me, girly. It's not hard for me to find out who you are, and when I do you won't be happy."

My blood was boiling. I pushed the phone down to my chest. I looked over at Stephanie. She ran over to me, flipping her phone shut.

"What's the matter?" she said. "You look like you could tear a man in half."

"I am about to." I whispered. I pulled the phone back up to my ear. Santos was still on the line. "Santos, give me the goddamned number. I am not in the mood to play fuck-fuck games."

"Who the fuck are you?" He yelled.

"I can't believe you just said that." Stephanie laughed, covering her mouth quickly. She mouthed, "Sorry."

I heard a click, and then Stephanie's phone started to ring. We both stopped and stared at it. Panic flashed in her face.

"Oh, God. What do I do?" She held the phone like it was a bomb about to explode.

Sighing I answered. "Answer it. He already knows where we are."

Gulping she opened the phone. "Hello." Her voice was pleasant, but obviously strained. I heard yelling, and then she clicked it shut. "Damn."

I slumped back onto the park bench, and pulled my face into my hands. "Stephanie, I have to go. I can't have them finding me."

"I will get into Rangeman to do searches and text you to get the information." She put her hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry."

I smiled and looked up at her. "It's okay. I'm not all in my game yet, but I am still better than Ranger at hide and seek. I will call you soon. Just keep your phone on you at all times, and don't let anyone at Rangeman touch it. They might bug it."

We flipped our heads up when we hear screeching tires, and slamming doors. "Gotta go." I said, and pushed to my feet. I saw Santos charge towards us, followed by two other Rangemen. I bolted back onto the sidewalk, pushing past runners and baby carriages. One of the Rangemen must have stayed back with Stephanie because I only heard two sets of footsteps behind me.

I glanced behind me. Santos was catching up to me fast. Damn that man was big! I thought, jumping down a set of stairs and heading to the tree line. I heard a crash, and then swearing. Glancing back again I saw the second Rangeman had run into with a hot dog cart, and was sprawled out on the ground covered in hot dogs and buns. That only left Lester and he was still on my tail, not even breaking a sweat. I pumped harder, pulling out every ounce of energy that I had. I was weaving dangerously in between trees and over fallen logs. I blinked as the darkness of the trees had broken way to a large playing field.

I felt arms wrap around my waist and I was falling desperately trying to free myself from them. We crashed painfully to the grass, with him on my back. I struggled to get away, grabbing at anything I could to get him off of me, and kicking my legs.

"Stop!" Lester's voice was loud and angry.

I was flipped over, my hands forced above my head. He was sitting over my hips, his legs clamped down on my own completely immobilizing me. My hair had fallen while I had been running and was splayed out under my head. I looked at his eyes. His voice had been angry, but his eyes were filled with concern. I shook my head, trying to shake myself back into a fighting mindset. I pulled and pushed, but he was too big, and I was too tired. I closed my eyes.

"Please." I whispered with what almost sounded like a sob. I was just as surprised as he was that it had come out of my mouth.

"What did you say?" He loosened his grip a little on my hands. I opened my eyes.

"Please." I sighed. "I can't be locked up there. I am not an animal."

"Princess." He leaned down, his face an inch from mine. "I'm not taking you anywhere you don't want to go. I just wanted you to stop running." He smiled.

"Then let me up!" I pushed again against his restraint. He laughed as I struggled against him. I thought for a moment to zap him, but a flitter of nauseas came over me with even the thought of hurting him like that.

"Only if you promise not to run." His lips curled back, showing a perfect white smile. My insides went gooey, and I felt a rush of heat filled me. Damn that man was good looking.

"Fine. But I can't stay here, it's not safe." I was pulled to my feet. He kept hold of one of my hands. He brushed me off gently, taking a little too much time on my ass and breasts. When he was done I glared at him.

"What?" He said innocently, flashing that smile again causing me to shudder. This only managed to make it bigger.

"I hope that you enjoyed that." My snarled playfully. "Normally I would castrate a man for feeling me up." His smiled dropped, and his eyes went wide. I poked his sides and smiled. "But I will make you an exception, but only because you have a nice ass."

"I am glad that you've noticed my ass. It is a thing of wonder." He laughed. The sound of snapping branches, and swearing made us swivel our heads. I began to pull my hand from his grip.

"Where are you going, Princess?" His hands tightening again.

"I can't be here. I can't let him find me." I sounded frantic. I mentally slapped myself. "Please. I can't."

Lester sighed, looked at the other Rangeman coming through the trees, and dropped my hand.

"Thank you so much." I grabbed his shirt to pull his face to mine, and kissed him. It was intended to be a quick peck, but he wrapped his arms around me and pulled himself into the kiss. I felt his tongue gently lap at my lips, and I opened it to him, wrapping my arms up around his neck. I shivered and moaned as he ran his tongue on the roof of my mouth. What the hell was I doing? I thought. I needed to get away, but…Damn…he was a good kisser. We broke our kiss, and I looked into his eyes.

"Damn, Princess." He smiled.

"Wait for my call." I pushed myself from his arms, and ran across the field.

********************Lester's POV*********************************

I watched as she ran across the field, her hair flying behind her. She was sexy as hell, and Goddamn if that kiss didn't make my knees feel like jelly.

"What the fuck, man?" Cal said, jogging up to me. "Why'd you let her go?"

"Drop it." I glared as I turned and stalked back to the SUV and Stephanie.

Stephanie was standing, arms crossed in front of Zero, the 'Burg' snarl on her lips when we got there. As I got to her, she smiled noticing that we had come back empty handed.

"Talk." I said, pulling her away from Zero and Cal, who were walking back to the SUV heads together. I knew that Cal was telling him how he found us.

"About what?" she said coyly, tapping her foot on the ground.

"Bomber, what the hell were you doing with her?"

"None of your business, Santos." Her hands flying to her hips, and her feet engaged in the Rhino-mode stance. "You can't tell me who to be friends with."

"Bomber, you know that Ranger is looking for her." I sighed, stifling a laugh. Her 'Burg' attitude may be dangerous, but she was cute as hell when she got angry.

"Ranger was an asshole to her. She's afraid that you guys are going to lock her up somewhere." She clenched her jaw in anger. "Frankly, I don't understand why it's any of his business."

"Shit, Steph." I put my hands on my hips. "I don't want her locked up, none of us do. She's in some kind of trouble. We are just trying to keep her safe."

"From what I heard at the hospital, she can take care of herself." A smirk crawled over her face. "I'm going home. I have shit to do. And tell your boss that he better not even think about harassing me over this. Or maybe I will pick up where she left off and really kick his ass."

I watched as she stalked off to her car.

"Fuck!" I kicked at the ground. Ranger was going to kill me. I stalked back to the SUV, wrenched open the back door and got in. Cal and Zero turned to look at me. "Don't say a fucking word. Drive."

"Sure thing, lover boy." Cal smirked as Zero headed back to Rangeman.

"Fuck." I said under my breath again. This was so gonna hurt.

"I hope that it was worth it, bro." Zero said as we parked the SUV. "Cause Ranger is gonna wipe the mats with you."

I wrenched open the door, and walked to the elevator. If I was gonna get my ass kicked, I needed to save some energy by not taking the stairs.

I was sitting at my cubicle when I hear Ranger's voice booming through the entire control room.

"Santos!"

I stood, cracking my neck and walked to his office. The door was open and he was leaning against his desk, his hands white knuckled. Tank was standing his left and Cal and Zero were next to the door.

"You want to tell me what the fuck happened?" Ranger's voice was cold.

"Not really." I said, pulling my face into a smile. The guys winced. I knew that, as Ranger's cousin, I could get away with murder. But I had a feeling that this was not one of those times. Ranger leapt at me, but was stopped by Tank before his outstretched hands could reach my throat. He was sputtering death threats in Spanish, and struggling against Tank. After a few minutes, Ranger sighed. Tank let go off his death grip, but maintained a hand to Ranger's chest. When he spoke his words were controlled.

"Where is she?" I shrugged my shoulders. "What did Stephanie say was her reason to see her?"

"She didn't say." I kicked the toe of my boot on the carpet.

"Fuck, Santos! Could you have fucked this up anymore?" Ranger's hands rubbed his temples. "Do you have anything for me?"

"Yeah."

"What?" His eyebrows rose.

A grin slid across my face, as I signed my own death warrant. "She's a great kisser."

I didn't even see him fly across the room at me, but I felt his fist make contact and the whole room turned black.

I know that this is a short chapter. I kind of need to lapse some time. This has always been a problem for me. Any suggestions on this chapter would be greatly appreciated.


	5. Chapter 5

****ALL characters are sole property of Janet Evanovich…except for Tabby. She's all mine. This is my first attempt at fanfiction, and would love to have reviews.****

***************************Tabitha's POV**************************************

I curled myself deeper into the linens of my bed. It felt amazing, but I was disappointed that I had been woken up. I was having a very erotic dream involving a man in black, and a Jacuzzi. I had been hiding out in my room at the B & B for over a month now. I rarely left the room, only to gather supplies, and visit with Diesel, or Stephanie. My incident with Santos was over about two weeks ago, and I had yet to call him. I am sure that he wasn't expecting me to, but I had scrolled over his number multiple times before chickening out.

I had seen Stephanie at least a dozen times now. She was sweet, and funny. I can see how Ric fell in love with her. She had been gathering information for me at Rangeman. I all but fell off my chair when she told me how she got in there to do the searches.

**********At Rangeman – 2 weeks prior : Cal's perspective************

Stephanie pulled up into the parking lot, and parked her van. It made me smile to see the "mom-mobile" next to the Rangeman vehicles. My mouth dropped open as she got, went around to the back of the van and pulled out a double stroller.

"Uh…Zero?" I said, my eyes not leaving the screen.  
"Sup?" He called over. He was watching the monitors behind me. I waved him over, my eyes not leaving the screen. I heard his chair wheel over and felt him lean against the back of my chair. Stephanie was now loading up two pink bundles into the stroller, and pulling a very pink, very large diaper bag over shoulder.

"What do I do?" I asked, turning to face him. I have worked at Rangeman for years and I have never once seen children here, let alone babies. Not to mention all that pink. Zero just smiled, and shrugged his shoulders.

"We just sit and watch, my man. Sit and watch." He pushed himself back to his monitors, and went back to work. My eyes flashed back to my screens. She was in the elevator now, and heading up to 5th.

"Shit." I waited as the door slid open, and Stephanie strolled out.

"Hello, boys. I am looking for Ranger. Sophia and Isabelle want to see their Uncle." There was a minute of silence, where every man in the control room was staring at her. Sophia's sudden shriek broke the silence and made half the men jump back to work.

"What the hell was that?" Ranger's booming voice came from his office.

Stephanie smirked and began to push the stroller towards his office.

"Shit." I whispered to Zero. "This is gonna be good." 

******************Stephanie's POV***************************

I pushed the girls into Ranger's office and watched as his and Tank's eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"Babe?" Ranger said, pushing to his feet and walking towards me. Tank was standing in front of his desk, his mouth dropped open.

"Hi!" I said as perky as I could. I stopped pushing the stroller when Ranger approached me. Bending down, I unstrapped Sophia and handed him to her. Then, I unstrapped Isabelle and handed her over to Tank. Both of them stared at me open mouthed, unable to speak. I laughed as I watched them hold the girls, like they were a bomb about to explode. I was the first to break the silence. "I thought that you would like to see the girls. I know that it has been a while. Plus, Lula asked me to stop by and do some searches for her."

They looked at each other, and then looked at me. "Babe?" Ranger said, almost fear in his voice.

"Oh, please Ranger." I sighed, setting the diaper bag on his desk. "They have been changed, and fed. Just play with them for a little bit while I get this done. I am sure that it won't take that long."

"Bomber, I…uh..." Tank stuttered.

"Really, guys?" I asked incredulously. "You can take down whole armies, but the thought of watching your two nieces are terrifying? Ridiculous."

Ranger sighed, and then glanced at Tank, who nodded at him. "Alright, Babe. But I swear…if they start crying its over."

"Thanks. You guys are the best." I kissed them each on the cheek, and then each of the girls on their foreheads. "Now, you two be nice to your Unkie Tankie and your Unkie Rangie. Mommy will be back in a little bit."

I giggled as I headed for the door. As I was closing it I heard Tank.

"Well, Unkie Rangie, what are we gonna do now?"

"Shut up, Unkie Tankie." Ranger said curtly.

I laughed out loud as I headed do a cubicle to do my searches. I didn't think that it would take me that long. Tabb had given me all the information that I needed to do the searches. After 20 minutes I was waiting by the printer as the report spooled out of it. Thomas Grady was a rather shady character. He didn't have anything when I searched the normal outlets, but found a great deal when I went through the top secret information. I folded the 15 page report and stuffed it into my pocket.

The next thing I needed to do was talk to Santos. Tabitha wanted me to make sure that he would be able to help out if needed. I walked over to Cal and tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hey, Bomber." He said with a smile.

"I was wondering if you knew where Santos was." I whispered. "I have to talk to him."

"Ummm…" He looked at Ranger's door.

"Don't worry." I said, smiling. "He is gonna be busy for a while."

"He's downstairs in Bobby's office." I thanked him and headed for the elevators, after I stopped and put an ear to Ranger's office door.

"Tank, my man, Isabelle just puked all over your shirt." I heard Ranger say, laughing.

"Ha. Ha." Tank replied sarcastically. "Shit, Ranger, check you out. Looks like Sophia needs a new diaper…and it's not one of those easy ones either."

"Shit." I heard Ranger whisper. My smile broadened as I pressed the button to the gym and headed down.

The gym was unoccupied, as it normally was during the afternoon. Bobby's office was in the back by the showers and equipment room. I headed back, knocking gently on the door.

"Yeah." Bobby's voice called through the door. "Come in."

I pushed open the door and saw Bobby standing in front of Santos who was facing away from me sitting on the exam table.

"Sorry to interrupt. I was wondering if I could talk to..." I stopped as Lester turned around. Both of his eyes were black, his lip was spit and he had fresh stitches in his eyebrow. My eyes followed the hand-shaped bruises down his neck to his chest which was covered with large purple bruises.

"What the hell happened, Lester!" I yelled as I ran to face him, and touched his face gingerly.

"Nothing." He said, pulling his blank face on.

"He's fine, Steph." Bobby said, reaching around him to wrap his chest. "It looks worse than it is."

I stepped back to give Bobby some space. My hands were crossed tightly across my chest, and I was tapping my foot on the hard tile. "If you don't tell me what happened…I'll ask Ranger."

Lester lifted his eyes to me, and smiled. "Go ahead. I'd love to see what he has to say about it."

Realization hit me, and I gasped clapping my hand over my mouth. I looked to Bobby and he shrugged his shoulders. "Are you telling me Ranger did this to you?" I could barely form the words.

"Let's just say that Ranger doesn't like anyone edging in on his girls." Lester winced as Bobby finished wrapping his chest. Lester stood and reached for his black Rangeman t-shirt, slipping it cautiously over his head.

"What are you talking about?" I reached for his arm, and felt my whole face tense into a frown as he spoke.

"I let her get away, Stephanie." He shook his head. "And I kissed her."

"You did what?" my mouth gaping open. I could feel myself boiling inside, getting ready to go full-Rhino on Ranger.

"It's all good. I was cocky, and wanted to piss him off. I knew that he was going to beat my ass." He put my face in his hand. "Don't fret, my pet. It was well worth it."

"What an ass." I said under my breath. He was pulling on his utility belt when he asked.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" He smiled, and my knees wobbled from how sexy he was.

"Yeah, um…I kind of wanted to talk to you alone." I tilted my head towards Bobby, who was busily cleaning up the used supplies.

"Alright…" He put his hand behind my back and led me out the door and into the shower room. He shut the door and turned to me. "What's up?"

"Tabby sent me to ask you a question." I watched as his eyes lit up. He nodded. "She wants to know if you were safe for her to call on if she needs help. She is getting closer to figuring out who and why she was taken."

Les put a hand on either shoulder. "You tell her that she can call on me for anything. I will be there in a heartbeat." I smiled at this and wrapped my arms around his waist. He squeezed me gently, stroking my hair. "Beautiful, that goes for you too."

"Thanks Les." I said. He had become such a good friend over the years. I knew that I could count on any of the guys if I needed them, but Les (like Tank) were the two I knew I could depend on the most. Well, other than Ranger. "I am worried about her though. The guy that she had me do a search on wasn't a good guy." I pulled out the papers I had shoved into my pocket. "I found that he is wanted for questioning in at least 15 mysterious deaths and hundreds of missing persons cases across the globe. If he's the guy that is after her, I don't think that she could do this on her own."

"Well, she's got Diesel and me, and I am sure that Ranger would pull out all the stops." He glanced over them and handed them back. I pushed them back into my pocket.

"I just don't know." He pulled me into another bear hug when we heard the shower door open. Zero stalked in wearing nothing but a towel. Les and I jumped apart.

"Santos." He said, cocking an eyebrow at us. "You wanting to get your ass kicked again?"

"Fuck you, Zero." Les said smiling.

"Yeah, I bet you'd like that." Zero smiled and walked up to one of the many shower heads that were on the wall and turned it on. "You waiting for the show, Bomber?" He said flipping his towel off and putting it on a hook on the wall. I turned around quickly and headed for the door. While seeing a naked Rangeman was an amazing experience, I felt like now was definitely not the time.

"Nice, Zero." Les said, following me. "Now I think you scared her off men for good."

I heard Zero laughing as I ran out into the hallway and ran smack into Bobby.

"Bomber, what the hell you doing in the shower?" His gaze shifted to Les who followed behind me. He looked at Les, who had a shit eating grin on his face, to me. I could tell that I was completely flushed, based on the heat that I felt in the face and ears. "What the fuck, Santos?" He set me aside and curled both hands into Lester's shirt. "If you touched her, Santos, I will kill you before Ranger even gets the chance."

"Bobby, stop it." I groaned, pulling at his hands. It was no use. He was stuck in bulldog mode and wasn't going to let go until he wanted to.

"Bobby…damn man. You know that I'd never do anything to Bomber." For a moment I thought that I was going to have to break up a fight, when I heard the elevator ding and Tank and Ranger walk through the door.

"Brown!" Ranger yelled. "Santos, what the hell is going on?"

"Everything is fine, boss." Lester said, as Bobby let go of his shirt pushing him back a step. "Just a misunderstanding."

"Fuck you, Santos." Bobby said through gritted teeth.

"At ease!" Tank yelled. Bobby and Lester snapped to, facing Ranger and Tank. Ranger strode up to them and got into Lester's face.

"You better tell me why the fuck I had to come down here, Santos."

"Damnit, Ranger." I spat, pushing at his shoulder. He didn't budge, but stared down at me. "It was a misunderstanding." Bobby grunted a 'whatever'.

"Brown, you better back off." Les growled. "It was."

"Yeah, you and Stephanie walking out of the shower room with her all flushed was what then. You gonna tell me that she needed marital advise?"

Ranger's hands were on Lester before I could even blink.

"God Damnit, Ranger!" I jumped pulling on his arms to release his grip on Lester's neck. Tank and Bobby just stood there. "Help me, You idiots!" I yelled at them. When they didn't move I took a slightly riskier move. I slipped myself in between them facing Ranger. I pushed against him, with no luck. Finally, I looked up at his face and kneed him in the crotch. His grip dropped and so did he. Tank and Bobby both gasped.

"Fuck, Babe." Ranger said kneeling on the ground with his fists planted on either side on the floor.

I put my hand on Lester's shoulder and looked into his eyes. "You okay?" He nodded. Turning to Ranger, I pulled back my leg and kicked him in the shin. "Serves you right, you bully."

Tank grabbed my arm and pulled me away as Ranger swiped for my leg. "Bomber, you might want to step back."

"No." I wriggled out of his grip. "Ranger deserved it." I watched as he pulled himself up to standing, and cracked his neck staring at me with exasperation. I puffed up my chest waiting for him to start to yell at me. Go ahead, I thought. Bring it on.

"Babe," he chuckled. "I'm not going to fight you."

"Shit." I must have said that out loud. "Well, I'm not sorry."

"Santos, Brown, Tank." Ranger said. "OUT!" They all scrambled to the elevator and left. Ranger reached his hand out to touch my shoulder, but I stepped back quickly. "Please, Babe." His eyes were soft, and calm. He had dropped his blank face and I could see his confusion, worry and (because of me) pain. "What the hell is going on?"

"Your being as asshole. That's what is going on." I stepped forward, poking my finger into his chest. "Lester didn't do anything to deserve the beating that you gave him, and he sure as hell didn't deserve you freaking out just now."

"Babe," I cut him off.

"No. You do not OWN me or Tabby. If she wants to kiss them than that is their business, and I am glad that she didn't come back here with him. I am starting to think she was right about you locking her up. And as for me….if I wanted to be in a shower all hot and bothered with Lester then that is my business."

"Stephanie, you didn't?" his voice was low. I could hear the hurt in it.

"No." I said quietly. "You know that I wouldn't. I am a married woman, and a mother. You know me well enough. And you know Lester. He would never let anyone hurt me."

"Shit." He said, rubbing his hands through his hair. "I am going to have to apologize aren't I?" He smiled a crooked smile.

"Yes, you will." I smiled back. "But for more than just now. Tabitha begged him to let her go, and he did because he knew that she couldn't come back here if she was going to be treated like some caged animal. She is tough." I sighed, as I remembered what I found in my searches.

"Babe, please." He pulled me into a hug. "Forgive me."

"Ranger, you are my best friend." I hugged him back. "Of course I forgive you. But if you don't pull your head out of your ass I am going to have to kick you again."

He chuckled as he broke out embrace, looking at me. "What were you two doing in the shower room, babe?"

"Talking. I had to ask him some questions." I pulled back from him, suddenly self-conscience of the large folded paper in my pocket.

"Then why were you flushed." He asked, cocking his eyebrows up quizzically. The shower doors suddenly pushed open and Zero walked out wearing his towel and nothing else, dripping water as he went.

"You enjoy the show, Bomber." He chuckled as he pushed the button for the elevator. When it dinged he stepped in, and shot me a wink. "Next show is at 5am. I will be here all week." The doors clicked shut.

Ranger looked at me, and burst out laughing. "It's not that funny." I said, poking him in the shoulder. "I think that I need therapy after seeing Zero naked. That is a whole lot of man, you know."

"I think that I am a whole lot of man, Babe. And you didn't need therapy." His smile was heart melting.

"That you know of." I smacked playfully at his arm. "I should probably get going. Are the girls up stairs?"

"Yeah." He said as we walked to the door. "Did you get your searching done?"

"I got a couple of things."

We rode the rest of the way in silence. I stared at the doors, watching him stare at me in the reflective surface of them. I nervously played with my wedding ring.

"What are you up to?" He whispered as the doors slid open and we walked to his office. I pushed open the door and saw Cal, Ella, and Hector playing on the floor with the girls. Hector was on his belly shaking a rattle in Sophia's face making her laugh hysterically, while Ella and Cal were playing Peek-a-boo with Isabelle. "Babe, you turned my hard as rock mercenaries into Mary Poppins."

"I think that it's cute." I cooed, walking up to the stroller as Ella and Hector brought me the girls. I said my 'thank you's as they walked out of his office. Gathering up the girls' gear I pushed the stroller over to Ranger. "Thanks for keeping track of them for me."

"You aren't going to answer me, are you?" He smiled, leaning over to kiss the girls on their foreheads. "Till I see you again, my little babes."

"Not a chance in hell." I told him smirking. He smiled, and kissed me on the forehead.

"Just let me help you if you need it, okay, Babe?" He pulled me into a quick embrace.

"I always do, Ranger." I called over my shoulder and walked out of the office, into the elevator and back to home.

********************Tabitha's POV**********************************

I had spent the past two weeks pouring over the information that Stephanie had brought me about Grady. He wasn't going to be easy to get a hold of, but I had to make sure of what I was up against. I was relieved to hear that Santos was willing to help me out if I needed it. There was no way that I was going to be able to call Diesel since he was "in the wind" on orders from the council, and Ranger was obviously still rather peeved.

I jumped as my cell phone chirped. It was a text message from Stephanie.

"GIRLS NIGHT. 7PM AT THE GROTTO. JOE IS WATCHING GIRLS..ALLNIGHT! PLEASE MEET ME THERE."

I smiled. Stephanie had been trying to get me to relax a little. I had been working on connecting Grady to my kidnapping since Diesel told me about him. I guess that one night out wasn't going to hurt anything.

"I WILL BE THERE. BUT WILL BE PACKING. WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?" I pushed send and waited. I walked to the small closet in my B &B room and searched for something that would be club worthy. I didn't want to be all slutty if Stephanie and her girlfriends were going to be all conservative. My phone chirped.

"GO SLUTTY OR GO COMING." Stephanie texted me. My stomach fluttered. Santos was not the kind of guy that I would have a relationship with, but I wouldn't mind seeing him naked in my bed. I blame that on my empath abilities. Diesel said that I am addicted to the high of people's lustful and happy emotions. I totally agree. There is nothing better than sharing a sexual experience with someone and feeling how you make them feel.

I decided on a pair of black FMPs, and a tight rose colored dress with a deep neck line and spaghetti straps. After picking out matching black lace wonder bra and cheeky panties, I glanced at the clock. It was 530. I peeled off my clothes and hopped into the shower. After shaving, exfoliating, and moisturizing I blow dried my hair and sat down on my bed to paint my nails. I picked a soft pink with silver French tip. While I waited for them to dry I picked up my cell phone and called Diesel.

"What's up?" Diesel's answered.

"How's it going, handsome?" I sang, pulling myself up onto the mass of pillows at the head of my bed. "I am getting ready to go out with Stephanie."

"Good." I heard him shuffling. "Um...Tabb…I have to get going. My skip just saw me." I heard him starting to run. "I'll call you when I can."

"Okay." I tried not to sound too disappointed. "Love you."

"Love you too." The phone went dead.

"Well, shit." I said, flipping on the television while I waited for my nails to dry. There was nothing on television, so I stopped at the Food Network and watched Bobby Flay making something amazing. After 20 minutes I pulled on my underwear, and then went into the bathroom and finished with my makeup.

It was 6:45 when I walked out the room, locking the door behind me. I felt sexy, and was ready to have some fun. My purse had my gun in it, but I was pretty sure that I wasn't going to need it. I plugged in the address of the club to my GPS when I got into the car, and headed out. The club was packed. I parked and walked to the doors, being waved in with a smile and whistle by the doorman.

I found Stephanie quickly and, after a quick hug and introductions I sat down. We all chatted, and ordered drinks. Her friends, Lula, Connie and Mary Lou were all amazing, strong, funny women. We laughed, talked out men, and eventually Ranger.

"So..." Lula said, slamming down yet another shot of tequila. "What's Ranger like in bed? Steph won't tell us a thing." Stephanie just shrugged her shoulders as she nursed her virgin daiquiri.

"Well," I began. "Ranger is hard to describe, and best experienced." This caused a groan from Lula, Connie and Mary Lou. "He's very…what's the word I am looking for Steph?"

"Thorough." She said, blushing.

"Exactly." I said, nodding. "He is VERY thorough, and very giving. He has to be the best lover I have ever had, and that's saying a lot. I am kind of a slut." We all laughed.

"That's good to know." A man's voice boomed behind us. I turned to find Santos, wearing a cream colored button up shirt over a matching tank top, package enhancing dark wash blue jeans and black boots. He was sexy as hell. I felt a shiver run down my spine. Lester leaned down and whispered in my ear. "Cold, Princess? I can warm you up."

I pulled him down a little so I could whisper directly into his ear. "Trust me. You got me heated up enough, right now." I ran my tongue over the sensitive part of the shell of his ear. This time he shivered.

He stood up, blushing and grinning. "Naughty." He turned to the rest of the group. "You guys need those drinks freshened up?"

The girls nodded dumbly, jaws slacked and mouths gaping. I watched as he walked to the bar.

"Damn girl!" Lula said. "You got that man wrapped tight."

"I don't think I have ever seen anyone make Santos blush like that." Connie said.

"He's cute." I said, shrugging my shoulders. "And looks like he could be some fun."

"Damn, Steph." Lula laughed. "You should've tried takin' on all of Rangeman. Looks like Tabby here is gonna have fun trying."

"Lula!" Stephanie said. I just laughed. I don't mind being thought of as being a little loose around the collar. I am single, and loving having fun.

"It's all good, Steph." I turned to Lula. "Tell you what, Lula. I promise that I'll let you know how they are. I have seen a couple that I wouldn't mind trying on..if you know what I mean."

Lula raised her hand for a high five. "I love this woman." Lula said as I slapped her hand laughing. "I can't wait to hear about it."

"Hear about what?" Santos said, coming up to the table with drinks and setting them gingerly down on the table. We all burst out laughing, leaving Santos dumbfounded.

"How'd you like to dance, handsome." I said, standing up and letting my hand sneak around his waist.

"That sounds good." He purred as I pulled him onto the dance floor.

The music was slow and pounded through me like a second heartbeat. Lester pulled me close, wrapping his arm tightly around my waist and the second up under my arm his hand under my hair on my neck. I pulled my arms around his neck and we danced. His hips swiveled suggestively against me, feeling his obvious excitement. I tilted my head back and closed my eyes. I could feel his lust coursing through his body. The empath part of me hummed against the passion, and ached for more. His lips landed on my neck, sending a jolt through my body and straight to my core causing a small groan to escape my lips. Reaching up I slid my fingers through his silky black hair, grasping onto it. I pulled my face close to his and looked into his eyes.

"You are playing with fire, Santos." My voice was breathy.

"I like fire." He said pulling me tighter and kissing me gently on the lips. I put my hand gently on his chest, feeling his heart pounding in his chest. "You drive me crazy, Princess."

I laughed, sending a small jolt of electricity through my fingers that were twisted in his hair. He closed his eyes and moaned as I felt the electricity travel through his body and land between his legs. He shuddered, and opened his eyes.

"Just imagine I can do without your clothes on." I whispered into his ear. He stopped dancing, and pulled me by my hand back towards the table. The girls stopped talking as he picked up a double shot of tequila slamming it, then picking up another and doing the same.

"Everything alright." Stephanie said, grinning ear to ear.

"Fine." Santos said, out of breath. "You gonna take that?" He pointed to the shot in front of Lula. She shook her head and watched as he took that one as well.

"Tabb, what did you do the man?" Lula said stingingly. I smiled, and winked.

"Damn, Princess." He finally said, pulling me closer to him. "You do that again, and I won't be held accountable for my actions."

I pulled him close to me and kissed him on the cheek. "Could you get us another round?"

He nodded, pulled out my chair so I could sit and ran off to the bar.

"I think that I am going to be leaving soon." I smiled.

"Tabb, you are the woman!" Stephanie said, sounding like Lula. We all laughed, slapping high-fives. As Lester came up to the table with six more shots.

"Here." He said, putting them down on the table. "What are we gonna drink to?" He said as we all grabbed a shot, and he picked up the remaining two.

The girls all looked at me, raised their glasses and said in unison, "Tabby!" We clinked our glasses together and took the shot. Stephanie, Connie and Mary Lou started coughing immediately.

"What the hell was that?" Stephanie gasped after her coughing spell.

Lester just smiled and said, "A kick in the balls. I thought that it was appropriate, especially after what you did to Ranger a few weeks ago."

The whole table went quiet, as we all stared from Santos to Stephanie. I knew the story, but still laughed as Stephanie replayed the scene. After the laughter died down, Lula called us all out to the dance floor. The song was raunchy and had a good beat. We all shook our ass, and danced for another hour or so before another low song poured out of the speakers. Lester grabbed me, pulling me close. I wrapped my arms around him, and we swayed grinding our hips into one another suggestively.

"I think that I'd like to go home." I whispered in his ear. He stiffened, underneath my arms. "But I would love it if you would join me."

He pulled back a little, and smiled. "Princess, I'd go anywhere with you." He leaned down and kissed me deeply, running his tongue across my lip until I opened my mouth and sucked on it. He groaned and kissed me again running his tongue over the roof of my mouth. I shuddered, and he smiled. "I love that I can make you shudder."

I pulled out of our embrace, pulled him over to the girls who were swaying drunkenly, arms wrapped around each other's shoulders. Tapping on Stephanie's shoulder, I said, "We're leaving. You guys have a ride coming?"

"Yeah, Tank's coming." Lula called over the music. "Have fun you two!"

We barely made it out the door before I slammed him up against my car. I needed to feel him again. I pulled his face down to mine and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around me, his hands running up over my ass and under my dress. He moaned as he felt the skimpy lace of my panties. I untucked his shirt and ran my hands under it. His skin was soft, and taught with bulging muscles. My hands wrapped around under his shirt and scraped gently over the skin of his back. He grabbed my ass, pulling me up into his arms before twisting so I was leaning up on the car. Wrapping my legs around him, I ground myself into the impressive bulge in his jeans. His hand reached my breast and ran his thumb over my nipple, causing a new rush of passion through me.

"Shit, Les." I said breathlessly as I broke our kiss. "I can't take much more before I strip you down now."

"Keys?" He said, gasping. I reached into my purse and pulled out the keys, clicking the button to unlock the doors. Lester, without putting me down, opened the back door and carefully ducked down into the car, placing me on the seat laying gently on top. I giggled as he reached back and pulled the door closed, and smiled as I pressed the lock button on the remote.

"Haven't done this in a while." He smiled, setting my purse on the front seat as I slipped off my heel and tossed them with it.

"I would've stripped you down in the parking lot. " I purred. I sat up on my elbows as he leaned down to kiss me as he tried to unbutton his shirt.

"Shit." He said, not progressing fast enough with the buttons. I giggled again as he grabbed and ripped his shirt of sending buttons all over the car. I yelped with delight as he threw that and the tank top into the front seat. My hands ran over his chest and back, ogling at the perfection of a man in front of me.

"You are one hot man, Les." I said groaning as he kissed his way down my neck, stopping at the sensitive area where my neck meets my shoulder. I pushed him up, and slipped the dress up over my head. I felt him take in a deep breath.

"How can you be so beautiful?" He asked, not necessarily to me. "You're perfect everywhere."

"Les?" I said quietly. He pulled his head back up to me, looking into my eyes.

"Yea, Princess."

I pushed him up off of me, sitting him down on the middle seat and straddling him. "I need you, now."

He groaned and grabbed my neck pushing my lips to his as I undid his belt buckle and unzipped his zipper. I reached down, feeling how hard and hot he was. I ran my hand down his shaft, feeling him shudder and moan. "Damn."

He shifted his hips as I slid his jeans just far enough to fully release him. He wrapped his arms around me, kissing me deeper. I pushed my panties to one side and slid slowly onto him. We moaned together. He wrapped a hand in my hair, the other around my waist guiding me. I felt my first orgasm radiate throughout my body. I broke the kiss as my release came, sending me shuddering and collapsing onto his chest.

"That's it, Princess." He cooed in my ear. I moaned again as he kept the momentum going, pushing another orgasm through my body.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the window. I panicked until I realized that the windows were completely darkened.

"Fuck." Santos said as he wrapped himself around me, reaching at his shirt hanging over the headrest. "Let's over you up." He helped slip his shirt over me, and lifted me gently off his lap.

"Santos." A familiar male voice called through the window. Panic once again rose up in my chest.

Les pulled his jeans up, buttoned and zipped them leaving the buckle open. "Just sit still, Princess. I'll be back in a minute." He opened the door and stepped outside.

***************************Les's POV*********************************

I was pissed as I stepped out of the car. What the fuck was wrong with him, I thought as I looked into Tank's eyes.

"Can I help you?" I said snidely.

"What the fuck are you doing?" He said, his eyebrows furrowing.

"Well, I don't know if you remember high school health class, but I trust you it's completely natural." I smirked.

Tank grabbed me by the throat and slammed me up against the car, rocking it.

"Don't fuck with me, Santos." Tank's voice was dark, matching the deadly look in his eyes. I heard the backdoor on the other side of the car click open. This was really not going to be good.

"Shit." I whispered. Tank dropped his hand as we watched Tabby walk around the car wearing my ripped button up shirt.

"You better let him go, Pierre." Tabby said, walking up next to him, and standing hands on hips staring at him. "Or it's not going to be pretty."

I heard Lula, Stephanie, Connie and Mary Lou giggling in the black Escapade. I felt his grip loosen on my throat as he cursed.

"Tabb, what the hell are you doing with this one?" Tank said, smacking my chest with a large hand.

"Hello?" I said. "I am right here."

"Shut up, Santos." Tank said, taking a step towards Tabby.

"I think you know exactly what I was doing with him." Tabby said. A smile spread across my face. "And you were interrupting." She crossed her hands over her chest. "I think that you should just go, and leave us to do whatever the hell we were doing."

"Tabb, you know that I can't just walk away. I can't just leave you here." Tank's voice was pained, but determined. "You should come back with me. I can promise you that you will be safe, and won't be held like a prisoner."

She stopped, and I could see her thinking through her options. I loved watching her. She was sexy as hell, and I loved that she was standing there wearing my shirt yelling at Tank. She looked over at me, and smiled.

"Fine." She said, "I will go back to your clubhouse if you give me one night with Les at my place."

"Shit." Tank said, turning to me. I know that I was wearing a shit-eating grin. I think that I am in love. "Let me make a call." Tank took a few steps away as he pulled out his phone. Tabby stepped in next to me, and smiled.

"God, I wish that I could hear the other end of that conversation." I said, wrapping an arm around her.

"Don't worry." She pulled me close to her. "There is no way that I am ending the night like this."

Tank slammed the phone shut and stalked over to us. "Fine." He said gruffly. "But you better hope that he is cooled off by tomorrow." Tank walked back to the Escalade and drove off.

"Let's go." She said, walking around the car and getting into the front seat. I got in and we drove off. This was going to be one of the best nights of my life. I am going to sleep with the most beautiful woman I have ever met, piss off Ranger and knock him down a peg all at once. I couldn't help but to smile.


	6. Chapter 6

All characters are creations of Janet Evanovich…except for Tabby.

******************Les's POV******************************

We pulled up to a little B & B on the east side of town. She got out, grabbing her clothes, and purse.

"You've been staying here?" I asked, pulling out my own things and followed her to a set of doors on the side of the building.

"Yeah." She said, pointing the car's remote over her shoulder and locking the doors. "It's nothing too special, but I have what I need."

We walked in silence up a set of stairs, and then down the hall to a large wooden door. As she opened the door, the smell of sweet pea and vanilla filled the air. I took a deep breath. Tabby looked over at me and smiled as she walked over to the bar and set down her things.

"What?" I asked coyly. "It smells just like you."

"I would hope so. I'm the only one that has been in here." She pulled off my shirt and tossed it on the counter, reaching her hand up at me. "Hand it over, Mr."

I cocked my eyebrows, as I walked over handing her the tank top that I had stripped off in the car. She threw it on the bar, and reached for my belt, sliding it gently out from its loops. I felt the smile creep across my face. She folded it in half, and snapped it against itself.

"So…what was it you were telling me about liking it rough?" Her lips curled up in a devilish smile. I gulped audibly, and she laughed. Setting down my belt, she put her hand gently on my face. "I hate the fact that I put a mark on this face. You are dangerously sexy." I pulled her to me, kissing her roughly. Heat ran through my body as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders and deepened the kiss.

I bit her lip, causing her to yelp quietly then moaning when I ran my tongue over it. She broke the kiss by tipping her head. I followed her cue, kissing down her neck, and across her collar bone. Her breathing has quickened, and her eyelids fluttered slightly when I made contact with my teeth.

"Let's take this in the other room." She sighed, looking into my eyes and dragging me back into her bedroom.

************************Tabby's POV************************************

Les was insanely sexy, and filled with lustful and passionate thoughts. My psyche was bombarded with the emotions and I felt like I was going to cum before he even made it further. I dragged him to the bedroom, flinging open the door and stopping at the foot of the bed. I turned him around and pushed him so that he was leaning up against the bed frame.

"Don't hold back, Les." I said, slipping my bra off and tossing it carelessly on the floor. He smiled, slipping off his shoes and socks before standing to take off his jeans. I put my hand on his and kissed him softly. "No. I get to."

I stood in my panties, with heat and passion radiating between us. I unzipped his jeans, pulling them slowly to his knees before standing back up and running my hand under the waist of his boxers.

"Don't tease, Princess." Les said, wrapping his arms around me and kissing me.

"Me?" I said, breaking our kiss. "I never tease." With that I put one foot on his jeans between his knees and pushed him back onto the bed. He grabbed me and pulled me onto him, kicking off the last bit of his jeans and rolling over on top of me. His weight was delicious and made me crave his touch even more. With one hand wrapped loosely in my hair, his other hand was free to explore my body. I shivered as his hands ran down my side, stopping at the waist of my panties and then moved back up gently caressing my breast, gently rolling the nipple between his fingers. Lowering his head his mouth covered my breast.

A moan slid out of my lips. He tilted my head back by my hair and kissed me. His tongue was hot and smooth as it slid around my own, flicking at the roof of my mouth and my lips. I shuddered again as he slipped to lie on his side next to me. His hand had free range of my whole body now, and was taking full advantage. He cupped my sex through my panties. I moaned again, bucking my hips against him urging him on.

"You make me lose my patience, Princess." He whispered, tugging my panties down my hips and over my legs. "Dios mío , la princesa , te necesito." [Dear God, Princess, I need you.]

I smiled, grabbing his face in my hands before saying. "Luego me lleve antes de que pierda la paciencia propia ." [Then take me before I lose my own patience.] He growled, pulling off his boxers and sliding on top of me.

We were staring into each other's eyes as he entered me. I was almost instantly crashing into an orgasm, undulating in his arms, and crying out in pleasure.

"Tabby. Dios mio." He whispered over and over again as he was thrusting gently. I ran my fingers into his hair as he peppered my face and mouth with amazingly sensuous kisses. "Su cielo como . Querido Dios ." [You're like heaven. Dear God.]

"Les..." I was breathless. I could feel another orgasm fluttering through my muscles, tensing them. "Oh, God, Les..." He smiled, kissing me deeply matching his thrusts. I bucked underneath him, pushing him to go harder. "Please...cum with me." I gasped.

He lost himself, thrusting deep and hard grunting as he came close to his release. I could feel him tensing within me, which caused the orgasm that had been working up to release slam through my body making my sight explode into darkness. I gasped, panting for air, pulling Les closer to me as he came.

"Dear God, Les." I finally said after I took a few moments to regain my breath. He chuckled, slipping a stray hair behind my ear and kissing my nose tenderly.

"That, Princess, was all you." He smiled and pulled me up in his arms. "Now, let's go take a shower. You look beat."

Our shower was a whirl of steam, bubbles, and hot water. He caressed me as he pulled the pouf across my skin leaving a thick lather of bubbles and the scent of Sweet pea. I copied his actions, pausing over my favorite parts to cop a feel. He washed my hair, scraping his fingertips gently across my scalp. I did the same for him. After 45 minutes and a whole lot of hot water, caressing and languid kisses; we were out of the shower and sitting in bathrobes on the sofa in the living room.

"I will be right back." I got up walking towards the bedroom. I heard him follow, stopping in the doorway to watch as I sat down at the mirrored dressing table and pick up a wide tooth comb. I began combing through the mess that was my hair, when I felt his hand rest the comb.

"Let me." He said, pulling the comb gently through my hair, untangling it pain free. I closed my eyes as he continued to run his fingers gently through my hair looking for any stray tangles or knots. "Hand me one of those bands, Princess."

I lifted one up over my shoulder and handed it to him. "Bad-ass Army guy turned Merc during the day and hairdressing love god at night. Why didn't I meet you sooner?" I smirked as I opened my eyes to watch his face in the mirror.

"What can I say?" He smiled back, pulling my hair gently into an intricate six-strand French braid. "I am pretty amazing." He finished, wrapping the band around the end of the braid. "There all done."

"How did you do that?" I said, straining to see the braid in the mirror.

"I have sisters, cousins…shoot…just wait until you see me do your nails." We laughed and then a yawn escaped me. He pulled me up into his arms and carried me back to the bed. "Let's come lie down and try to sleep."

"Yeah. I guess I am moving tomorrow, huh?" I slipped off the robe, throwing it onto the dressing table and slipping under the covers.

"I can't believe you agreed to live at Rangeman." He followed my leave and chucked his robe as well. "Don't get me wrong, it's a great place to live. I just thought you didn't want to be there."

"Things change." I lay on my back, hands crossed over the sheet on my chest. "Plus, Tank didn't look like he was going to leave without something to bring back to the boss."

Les sighed heavily. "Yea. The boss." He shook his head. "What's up with you two anyways?"

"It's a long story, Les." I rolled over on my side leaning up on my hand.

"And…." He asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Ric and I met when I was 21, fresh out of OBC and graduated with honors. I was an Intel specialist, and had a knack for finding information that no one else could. I was assigned to his unit, and spent the first year behind a desk. It was miserable. One day, Ric and Tank showed up at my door and offered me a position in their next mission. They needed a female distraction for a hit. It didn't quite go as they intended, but I made it out, and the mission was completed. During the next three years I got to accompany them in the majority of their missions, gaining quite a reputation within the Special Ops family." Les was listening intently, so I took a deep breath and continued. "When Ric got divorced, we all decided that he needed a vacation. We all took leave and went to Mexico. It was a crazy two weeks, filled with tequila, crazy stunts, and even a prison break." I laughed remembering Tank trying to squeeze through the little cell window. "It was crazy. Ric and I hooked up then and became really close. We never really had a 'your-my-girlfriend' relationship, but he was my best friend and I was his."

Another deep breath and I continued. "Months went by, and we started getting bad missions. Ones that were given to us with the assumption that we wouldn't make it back. On our last mission, we almost didn't. In fact, we lost one of ours…Garnett. He had a wife and kids. It tore us all apart. When we got back, I was pissed that the information we were given had been so shotty, and that the mission was such a bull-shit trip. I walked up to the Commanding General and …well, it wasn't good. I was arrested for assaulting a senior officer, and was then discharged. Thankfully honorably. Ric almost gave up his position, and asked me to get married. That's when I met Diesel."

"That blonde guy that Ranger despises?" Les asked. "Isn't he like Mysterio or something.

"More like a mixture of Rouge, Wolverine, and Superman." I laughed. "That's when I found out about my special abilities." Les nodded, remembering what happened to Ric in his office. "I had to go with Diesel to be trained to control them. This meant that I would have to give up my normal life."

"Bobby had taken Garnett's place in the team, and wasn't aware of Diesel or the decision that I had made. My official death was recorded on May 17th, 2001. The funeral was nice, and everyone from the team was there."

"That's when Ric turned down his enlistment and lost the sparkle in his eyes. He used to laugh, and joke around. He was funny." I sniffed back the tear that was threatening to fall. "I think that my death broke him. He has been putting flowers on my grave on the anniversary of my death, and my birthday since then. Always pink lilies."

Les cringed. "Shit. I'm dead."

"You aren't dead." I laughed, punching him playfully on his arm. "Ric and I have been done. He moved on I am sure. He's pissed at me now, for making him look like a fool in front of his men, and Stephanie."

He nodded, and then his face lit up like he just got something. "I took your place." He laughed. "Shit, I even went to the funeral with the guys. I had just gotten to the team though, so I just went as support."

I laughed. "That's kind of funny. I hope that you were up to par. They can be hard asses."

"They weren't too bad. I mean, I already knew most of the guys. I am Ranger's first cousin, you know." He smiled a cheesy grin.

"Shit." I whispered. "Just don't introduce me to any more family members. People already think that I am a slut."

"You can't be a slut if you only sleep with two family members. Plus, we are cousins so that doesn't even count." He stroked my cheek. There was no way in hell that I was going to tell him that I woke up one morning, after another battle with tequila, with two naked Manosoes bed with me. His half-brother Diego, and his cousin Justin ran into me after I had been discovered by Diesel. They saw that I was bummed, and took me out drinking and dancing. Ric and I weren't a couple at the time. I had broken it off when I found out that I was Unmentionable. The song is right though, Tequila does make your clothes come off. I didn't stick around though. I took a shower, and left. Not something that I am proud of, but I don't remember any of it.

I yawned, suddenly feeling exhausted. Les rolled me onto my side, curling up next to me. He fell asleep quickly, and I sat and listened to him sleep; softly snoring. It felt amazing to have someone hold me at night. Hopefully this means that I won't have any nightmares tonight. I surrendered to my sleep, smiling.

***********************Lester's POV****************************

I woke up a few hours later to the sun streaming in through the curtains. Tabby had stayed cuddled up to me all night long. I reached up towards her face, gently pulling a stray hair from her face. She was so beautiful when she slept. Her face was relaxed, and at peace. I ran my hand down the length of her body. She was still naked from last night. The urge to run my hands over every square inch of her body was overwhelming. Her skin was tanned, but not too dark, and soft as could be. I ran my finger along her tattoo starting at her hip, tracing each leaf. When I reached the end, right below her belly button, I felt her shift slightly. I looked up at her face, and saw her beautiful grey eyes staring at me.

"Morning, Princess." I said, reaching my hand to cup her face kissing her gently. "You sleep good?"

"Great." She said, rolling over and stretching her arms over her head, her back arching slightly. I watched as her muscles flexed and then relaxed. God, she is beautiful. When she stilled, I put my hand back on her belly, continuing the trace of her tattoo onto the other side. She watched contently, before speaking. "I need to add to it again." She said a flat tone in her voice.

"What are you going to add?" I asked, wrapping my arm around her waist and pulling her on top of me. She smiled, leaned down and kissed me on the lips gently.

"A couple of kills." She said nonchalantly, and jumped up off the bed and headed to the bathroom.

"What?" I didn't understand what she was saying. "What do you mean, add a couple of kills? Is that what those are?" I got up and followed her, stopping at the closed bathroom door. I heard the toilet flush, the sink turn on and off and then the door opened. I lifted one eyebrow, crossed my arms and asked again. "What do you mean, add a couple of kills?"

"Les, I am not a girl scout. I have a job." She walked past me towards her dresser. I watched as she slipped on another pair of those sexy panties like she wore last night...this time in pink. I looked around the room for my boxers, finally finding them half way under the bed. I slipped them and my jeans on.

"What kind of job do you have? Are you an assassin or something?" I pulled her towards me after she had finished putting on her bra. She looked up into my eyes, hurt and embarrassment showing clear as day.

She lowered her head, and nodded. "Yes, in a way I guess that I am." Her voice was little more than a whisper.

***********************Tabby's POV*******************************

I waited for Les to say something. He and I had shared a lot in the past 12 hours, and I don't know if this is what finally put him over the edge. He just stood there, looking at me. I could feel his frustration, his astonishment, but then I felt his remorse, and his compassion.

"Can I see all of it?" He asked putting his hands gently on my hips. "The whole picture."

I nodded, taking a step back and lowering the waist of my panties so the entire tattoo showed. I turned and felt as he saw the word "FORGIVEN" and I felt his emotions jump to empathy. I shook my head as I began to turn so he could see the extent of it. He stopped me as I faced him, pulling him into my arms and whispering into my ear.

"Princess, it doesn't matter, really it doesn't." He pushed back, looking into my eyes. "This doesn't define you."

"Les…I…" I stopped as he put his finger gently to my mouth.

"Let's get breakfast and figure out how we are going to get you to Rangeman, okay?" He squeezed me gently and then finished finding his socks.

"I think that we are going to need some help getting all this stuff there." I said, looking around at all the stuff I had acquired over the past few weeks. "I could call Stephanie. I bet she'd come help."

"That sounds good. I will give the office a call to see where they are going to be putting you. When did you want to head over there?" He pulled out his cell phone that managed to stay in his pocket all night long. I glanced at the clock on the bedside table, it read 1100.

"Probably not until 7 or so. I want to take my time. I am definitely not in a big rush to get over there." I sighed, pulling a small laundry basket out from my closet and shoving dirty clothes into it. "Plus, I am going to have my laundry done. It will be done by two, if I hurry."

"Okay." He flipped open his phone and made his call. I walked around the entire apartment picking up the laundry. I picked up the phone next to the bar and called down to the services desk. They told me that someone would be up for it in a moment, and that it would be done immediately. I padded my way back to the bedroom to get dressed. Les was still on the phone, and I could tell that he wasn't enjoying the conversation.

"Damnit, she said that she would come in. Now lay off." His voice was a quiet growl. He ran his fingers through his hair as he listened. "Shit." Another pause. "Roger." Yep, he was irritated. His voice was flat and carried none of the emotions that were radiating off of him. Slamming the phone shut he got up and shoved it back into his pocket. He cracked his neck, and sighed.

I stood, pulling out a pair of low rise jeans, and a soft pink v-neck t-shirt. "That sounded like a fun call." He laughed, nodding his head. "Everything going to be good? Or do we have to make a run for it?" I smiled, pulling the jeans up over my hips and buttoning the button.

"If we were to run, I can guarantee that I would be a dead man in less than 24 hours." He came over to me, putting a hand on either side of my waist. "I will call Bomber and see if she can come. You finish getting dressed. Then we will start packing, but I get dibs on your underwear drawer." A sexy smirk covered his face, and I giggled.

"I am confident that you would be the best man for the job." I ran my hands down his bare chest. "In fact, I love the thought of your hands on my panties, especially when I am wearing them." I pulled his face down and kissed him, nipping playfully at his bottom lip. He growled lustfully, and turned me around, smacking my butt.

"You." He pointed to the closet. "Get dressed, and start before I reconsider the death threat."

Stephanie arrived 45 minutes later with two giant black duffel bags. Joe was carrying a few cardboard boxes, some tape, sandwiches from Pinos and a case of beer. We ate and chatted casually before jumping into the packing.

"Tabby and I will take the bedroom, you two pack up the gear that is in here." Stephanie said, tossing them the boxes, while she and I brought the bags into my room. Setting them open on the bed, we headed for the closet to assess our mission. "Damn! You sure went shopping."

I laughed. "Well, I didn't have a lot going on. My leads were all a bust, and I have a credit card with no limit…courtesy of Diesel." I smiled devilishly. "Just wait until you see my shoes." Her eyes lit up, and we started packing, folding the clothes as best we could before shoving them into the duffel.

Within in an hour the guys were coming in with smiles on their faces.

"So…let me at 'em." Les said, smiling and cracking his knuckles.

"What?" Steph said, shoving my shoes gently into the second duffel bag.

"I get the panties." Sporting his best Cheshire cat smile.

"Good Lord." Stephanie said, shaking her head and going back to packing.

"Fine." I got up and headed towards the dresser, and pulled open the drawer. Joe and Les padded over staring into it like it was a chest of gold.

"Joseph Anthony Morelli, you better come over here and help me with these shoes." Steph's voice was stern, but filled with playful banter. Morelli jutted out his bottom lip, dropped his head and shuffled to the closet like a four-year old.

"Yeah, Morelli. Get those shoes. I got this." Les said as he reached into the drawer and delicately pulling out a pair of my silk panties and then gently folding them into a square and setting them on top of the dresser. The framed picture of Ric, Bobby and I caught his attention. "No fucking way." He said grabbing it and bringing it closer to his face. "This is Ranger…and he's smiling. I totally need a copy of this." I shook my head.

"Yeah. That's the guy that I met. Not this new, "I'm a bad-ass commando who wears only black and has no emotions." We were young in this picture though, he was 25, Bobby was 23 and I had just turned 21." I took it from him, smiling and running my fingers over their smiling faces. "This is all I have left of my boys."

We finished packing my panties and the other stuff in the dresser...with Les almost drooling over the nighties. The rest of the packing was quick. I was already pretty organized. My makeup and other girly stuff was stored neatly in a leather case. Stephanie was in the bathroom putting all of my soaps, lotions, and shampoos into the last box.

I stepped over to the bedside tables to empty them out, tossing the bag onto the bed. Les followed behind me, putting his hand on my waist.

"Do I get to see you in any of those sexy nighties?" He whispered in my ear, causing shivers to shoot up my spine.

"Sure." Flustered I wrenched open the top drawer not even knowing what I was doing. I looked down, gasped and slammed the drawer shut. "Shit." I said under my breath.

"What's the matter?" Steph said, loading Joe up with stuff from the bathroom and coming over to see what was going on. My grip was frozen on the drawer, as I slowly glanced up at Les' face. He was smiling from ear to ear.

"No reason hiding it, Princess." He smirked.

"Hiding what?" Stephanie asked. "What's in there?"

"Shit." I sighed again. "Can I have a little privacy?" Stephanie got the point. Smiling she walked into the living room to help Joe tape up the boxes. Les didn't move an inch. In fact he put his hand over mine and slid the drawer open. I could feel the heat rising to my face, letting me know that I was blushing. He reached in grabbing a small metal box with rabbit ears embedded in the cover. I grabbed it out of his hand. "Les, this is embarrassing." I shoved it into the side pocket of the bag before reaching in to grab the last object of embarrassment. Les was holding it smiling. It was a small finger "massager". He slipped it over his large rough finger and turned it on. The distinct sound of buzzing finally cracked my cool. "Are you done?"

"No." He said, pulling it off his finger, and tossing it in the bag. "That's incredibly sexy."

"You are such a perv." I said, grabbing everything out of the drawers and tossing it into the bag.

"You love it, though." He winked and I shook my head.

"Actually it's kind of depressing." I pulled out the drawer and dumped the remainder of the contents into the bag, followed by the next drawer. When I turned to go to the other bedside table, Les put his arm out wrapping it around my waist.

"It's far from depressing." He kissed me, wrapping the braid around his hand. "I love that you can take care of yourself, but let me do it last night."

"Les…" I started. I didn't want him to think that we were going to be a happy little couple, get married and have 2.5 children. "I don't want you to think..."

"I understand our arrangement, Tabby." He whispered. Kissing me again, this time more passionately. "I just want you to know that I really enjoyed last night, and hope that it won't be the last. I'm not the committing kind of guy, and I have a feeling neither are you. I am okay with that."

I smiled, pulling him back to me kissing him. "Thanks for understanding, Les." He nodded, turning me around, and smacking my ass before telling me to get back to work. A few minutes later, I had packed the last of my things.

"Hey, I think that we are all done." I called into the living room to Joe and Stephanie. Les and Joe loaded their arms with boxes and bags to bring them out to the vehicles. When they walked out the door, Steph pulled at my arm lightly and whispered to me.

"You had better tell me about last night."

"What part?" I joked, knowing the answer. She wanted to know everything.

"Seriously…I can't believe you and Les…in the car." Her eyes went wide. "In a packed parking lot! And oh my God, Tank was hilarious. I thought he was going to rip out Les by his dick."

"His dick was being occupied at the moment, Steph." We laughed as I grabbed my purse and keys, doing a once over of the room.

"Was he good?"

"He was good." I wasn't going to get into too many sticky details, but knew that I wouldn't get away with that. She stared at me, trying to lift just one eyebrow…and failing. Sighing I continued. "He was amazing. I will definitely make sure that I keep his number in my phone."

"You slut!" she laughed. "I am so jealous. Not that I don't love Joe, but I wouldn't be healthy not to have dirty thoughts about all those sexy men that work at Rangeman." She shivered. "What about Tank? You put him in line quick."

"Tank is a good man. Very loyal, but he understands that I am who I am. There is no telling me who I can't be with or where." I bit the inside of my lip, pulling my eyebrows together. "But I am totally going to take him to the mats when I get there. His interruption was so not cool. Who knocks on a rocking car?"

"Tank, that's who." Stephanie laughed. "Just be glad Ranger didn't come down. I could hear him screaming at Tank through the phone when he was taking us home. It wasn't pretty."

"That man." I huffed as I closed the door of the room, and headed down the stairs. It was 5:30 and we had packed everything, and had loaded the last bit of it into the back of Joe's truck and the trunk of my car.

"How about dinner?" Stephanie said, pulling Joe into a quick embrace. "We could go to Shorty's, they have killer pizza. It's a little different, but I bet you'd love it."

"That sounds great." I said, pulling out my keys and getting into the car. I watched Les get into the car. He had his torn button up shirt hanging over his shoulder, and his tank top was tight across his luscious body. He smiled as he caught me looking. "What?" I blushed slightly. "I'm human." He just laughed.

We listened to music the whole way to Shorty's, Les was flipping through the MP3 player that was plugged into my system. He would stop for a minute to hear a song before switching to the next one, raving about how they were all his favorites. I pulled up behind Joe's truck, got out and locked the doors. Shorty's was obviously a dive, but the smells coming out of it made my mouth water.

Taking the booth in the back, we all piled in ordering pitchers of beer and two large pizzas. We sat in silence for a few moments, taking in out surroundings, and the company that we had.

"So..." Joe finally said. "You are gonna turn yourself in tonight, huh? Watch out Ranger is in a mood." Stephanie smacked him gently on the shoulder, giving him the death glare.

I laughed, peeling the label off my beer, "Yeah. I guess that I will be locked up for a while. It's okay though. I haven't had a hit in weeks on my guy." I took a swig.

"What guy?" Joe said, his eyebrows rising.

"Oh, I thought that Diesel told you guys. He said that he was working with someone the last time that I talked to him, and I assumed that it was Ranger." I rolled my eyes. They both looked at me for more information. "Diesel came across some Intel about how exactly I was taken. One of our own was helping Thayer get a hold of me. Without him, they never would've been able to. He has a way of disappearing in my radar, if you know what I mean."

"Grady, huh?" Stephanie said. "My search really didn't get that much information either. Les, you looked at it. Have you gotten anything?"

I looked over at Les, who was shaking his head. "I have had a lot of contacts tell me that he's here, but there is no way to pin him down to one location. It's like he's a step ahead."

"That's Grady. He's one sneaky bastard. Plus it doesn't help that he has the entire Unmentionable council at his disposal." I watched as Les' jaw dropped, followed by Joe's and Steph's. I guess that I had to further explain that one. "Grady is the first son of the man that is best described as our President. He has unlimited resources, and a nasty set of powers. He's far from the most powerful, I mean Diesel is one of their best, but he's got influence and that's more dangerous."

"Why would this guy be after you, Princess?" Les asked, as the pizza was set on the table. We all took a piece and started eating. After a few bites, I gathered enough courage to answer him.

"He was my handler. Being responsible for me, my missions, and frankly owning me." I took another bite of pizza not making eye contact with anyone.

"Owned you?" Les growled, trying to keep his voice down. "What the hell kind of people did you get involved with? No one can own you?"

"Well, he can, and he technically still does." I took another swig of beer and rubbed my face with my hands. "When I first joined the Unmentionables I got into a bit of trouble. I accidentally killed an innocent, and as punishment I was given to Grady."

"That is such bullshit." This time it was Steph, grumbling in between bites of pizza.

"Yeah, well. Diesel convinced the council that I shouldn't be punished for a mistake and convinced them that he would take responsibility for me and my actions. They agreed to it, but Grady was livid. He enjoyed the time that he had complete control over me, and wanted revenge for taking away his plaything." I jumped as Les slammed down his beer, sloshing beer everywhere.

"Shit, Tabb. Why didn't you stay with us at Rangeman? He could have gotten a hold of you and no one would have known where you were or how to help you." Les ground his teeth and gripped his beer tighter.

"Les, you know why." Stephanie said annoyed. "Ranger made her feel like she was an out of control monster. Why would she say there, only to be locked up like a criminal. "

Les was about to open his mouth when Joe boomed across the table, "Enough!" He pointed his finger at Les. "You are not helping, and you..." She pointed at Stephanie. "You are a mother now; you can't be gallivanting across the city trying to catch bad guys. If you get hurt, where would that leave the girls?" Lastly he pointed at me, "You are going to stay at Rangeman. He is not going to lock you up, and if he even gives you one ounce of trouble I will take care of him." We all watched as he sat back, and lifted the beer to his lips. "Now let's finish eating and head over. I am sure that we are going to be interrogated the second we walk in the doors and I actually want to go home to my babies tonight."

We finished eating in near silence. When we were done, I reached into my purse and grabbed a hundred, and slapped it on the table. Les and Joe gave me death glares. I guess that it wasn't kosher for a girl to pay here. I just raised my eyebrow and smiled before getting up to go.

Walking out of Shorty's I called out, "Les." He turned around and I tossed him my keys. "I don't want to drive." He smiled as we got into the car. Steph and Joe followed as we pulled into the garage at Rangeman.

"Are you ready for this, Princess?" Les said touching my hand gently as he turned off the car, setting the keys in the cup holder. I nodded before opening the door and waiting as Les opened the trunk to gather my things. I was holding a black duffel bag, my purse and my bathroom tote. Les, Joe and Steph grabbed the rest, Steph having the smallest load. There was no one there waiting for us, even though we were on time and they knew that we were there.

We got into the elevator and Les pressed "5". We stood in silence as we went ascended. As the doors slid open I closed my eyes for a moment, sighed and then started walking towards the door that I knew was Ric's office. The men throughout the control room had stopped and stared, watching us with a mixture of curiosity and fear.

Before I reached the office door I heard hard footsteps running towards us, and then a familiar voice saying, "Tabby Catt!" I turned to see Bobby rushing across the control room, and I dropped my things as he scooped me up and squeezed me into a loving embrace.

"I'm sorry, Bubbies." I whispered as He cradled me in his arms. "I was scared, and didn't know what to do. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Tabby Catt...I am just glad that you came back." He set me back onto my feet taking my face in my hands and kissing my forehead. "But if you EVER do this again, I will kick your ass." We both smiled. I almost jumped when I heard someone clear their throat loudly behind me. I turned to see Ric, standing in the doorway to his office, hands crossed dangerously over his chest, face hard and cold.

Author's Note: I am posting as I go, and have been pushing out a dozen or so pages every couple of days. Please review and give suggestions of where you think it should go…if I should change anything or whatever.


	7. Chapter 7

This is just an author's update. I have edited parts of Chapter Two. I hope that you all go back and see the changes that I have made. They will be important for the latest chapters. I am trying to get some core information out there so that you can all understand Tabby, and why she is who she is, and why she does what she does.

Enjoy! And please remember to review. I would love feedback from all of you.


	8. Chapter 8

As always, the characters are not mine, they are Janet Evanovich's. Also, I do not plan on using any of this for my own personal gain. It's just for fun. Tabby…is mine though…and may use her for something else.

I took a deep breath, picked up my things and took a step forward towards Ric's office. Bobby's hand on my shoulder stopped me. I looked him, and smiled.

"It'll be okay, Bubbie." I said kissing his cheek. He put his hand over mine, curling his large strong hands around the bags I was carrying.

"I will take care of these, and then I will be back down. I don't think he will let me inside, but I will be outside the door if you need anything." He smiled again, and nodded back at Cal and Zero who walked up to Les, Stephanie and Joe and took the things out of their hands. We all thanked them and huddled together before taking the last few steps into his office.

He had sat back down at his desk, leaning dangerously back on his chair. His elbows were propped on the arms of the chairs and his fingers were steepled , his face was frozen in a painful blank stare. The moment I stepped into his office the blast of cold hatred and anger made me stop in my tracks and gasp. Les put his hand on the small of my back, giving me the support I needed to come in.

"Sit." Ric said, his voice cold as ice. Once again the wave of ill feelings rushed over me. I collapsed into the leather chair directly across from him, and then took a deep breath to manage the emotions that he was throwing at me. I pulled myself upright, and took a deep breath. I hoped that his barrage of negative thoughts would slow down, otherwise I was going to have to find relief another way.

We sat there for a few minutes just staring at one another before Stephanie got up and spoke.

"Ranger, are you going to say something or not. If not, I am sure that we have many more productive things to do." She crossed her arms across her chest and tapped her foot impatiently.

Ric stood slowly, walking around his desk and standing inches away from Stephanie's face.

"You do have more important things to do. Take care of those babies. You shouldn't be running around doing favors for someone will end up getting you killed." His voice was barely over a whisper, but we all heard him. He was seething, and barely holding onto control. "Go home. Take him with you." He motioned towards Joe. "If I decide that you can see her, I will call you. I do NOT want you to try my patience with her, Babe."

Joe stood up, putting his hand on Steph's shoulder, glaring at Ric. "Ranger, you better watch how you talk to my wife." Ric met his glare and nodded, taking a deep breath.

"Just get her out of her, Morelli." Ric turned and walked back to his desk leaning on the front of it. He watched as Joe and Steph hugged me goodbye. I said my thank-you's silently, only mouthing the words. My heart sank as I heard the door open and close behind me, signaling that they were gone. It was just me and Les.

"Ranger..before you flip out.." Les started to say, standing up and between me and Ric. He didn't get the chance to finish. Ric had lept across the 4 foot space between us and punched Les in the face. I reached up and grabbed Ric's hand, putting him into a submissive hold before telling Les to get out of the room. Holding his bleeding nose, he looked at me bugged eyed. "I'm not leaving you in here with him. He's crazy."

I was struggling to keep Ric in a hold. I yelled to Les to get out. He shook his head and stormed out, slamming the door behind him. Ric stopped fighting against me, and pushed me away lightly going back in front of the desk. It was like my touch was revolting to him. I deserved it though. He looked at me, crossing his arms over his chest and stared at me. After about ten minutes I finally spoke.

I sighed. "Just do it, Ric."

He grunted, and walked over to me, eyes on fire with rage. I could feel all of his emotions slamming into my body; anger, frustration, hatred, hurt, embarrassment, jealously. The emotions were relentless, and he knew their effect on me. I clutched at my stomach, wincing slightly. His chest rose and fell with every frantic breath that he took. He grabbed me by the scruff of my shirt, and opened his mouth. Nothing came out, but he groaned in frustration releasing me and stalking away from me pacing back in forth. Every few minutes he would stop, run his fingers through his hair, curl his lips and growl in frustration again before going back to his pacing.

He stopped, took a deep breath and looked at me again, this time he began to speak. "Why can't you just let me help you?" His voice was shaking, proving how close he was to loosing his control. "Why did you come to me if you didn't? You don't understand what the hell you're doing." He sank down into the hair across from his desk, pulling his face into his hands.

"Ric..I..I don't know what to say." I stood in front of him, wringing my hands nervously. He looked up at me, the anger turning into defeat. "I am sorry that I got you into this mess. I never thought that this would happen. If you want I can try to get a hold of Diesel. He can put me into a safe house." Obviously the wrong thing to say, because anger flashed through him again as he stood to his feet. I jumped back as he came up to me, our faces an inch apart.

"Are you fucking kidding me!" He yelled, his hands squeezing my shoulders shaking me gently. "We thought you were dead! For TEN YEARS, Tabb. TEN fucking years we mourned for you. Bobby was crushed. You should've come to us then. There is no way in fucking hell we are letting you run away."

I tried to pull myself out of his grip. "I couldn't come back!" I shouted back at him, his had stopped shaking me and just stared at me. His eyes black and cold. "I wanted to, but I couldn't!"

"That's bullshit, T..and you know it." He spat. "We could've helped you. I would've helped you. You chose to leave us, and it killed all of us when they told us you died."

"I HAD NO CONTROL OVER THAT, Ric!" I yelled, pushing hard against his hands restraining me.

"No control…" he laughed coldly. "You have never been one to be out of control. It seems like even last night, you were in control." He glared at me, before letting go of my arms and backing up a step.

"Fuck you, Ranger." I said, my fists tightening.

"Don't you dare." Ric spat through ground teeth. I squinted my eyes in anger, crossing my arms over my chest. The anger he was projecting at me was fueling my own explosion. He strode back to me a mere inch from my face. "Don't you dare call me that."

"That's who you are now, isn't it?" my voice was snide, and cruel. "Ric is gone. Now you are just this arrogant asshole. Pissed at the world."

"Yeah. I'm pissed at the world. Pissed that I lost you. Pissed that I had to pick up the pieces." He took another deep breath. "You have no fucking idea what you did!" He screamed, his arms flailing around me. I could tell that he had finally lost his stone cold control.

"What I did, Ranger?" I curled my voice around his nickname. "I did what I had to do to keep you safe."

"Safe!" HE scoffed, rubbing his hands through his hair again. "You kept me safe! From what?"

"From me." I growled. He stopped, pulling back a step.

"What the fuck happened to you, Tabby?" He started pacing again.

"I died, remember." My chest was heaving, feeling like it was going to explode.

He stopped pacing and looked at me. "What the hell are you talking about?" His hands were outstretched, like he was trying to grasp for answers in the air. "You were off playing mercenary with Diesel, and it seems like you were having a pretty good time considering you were knocked up when you tried to find me."

"That's not fair, Ric." I said, wiping tears from my face. "You don't understand."

"Then tell me, Damnit!" He roared. "You're sitting there feeding me cryptic bullshit, coming to me for help then running off without a word, and now your fucking my cousin! Tell me what I don't understand!"

"That's low." I growled, pulling myself up from the chair, my hands in tight fists at my sides.

"It's the truth, isn't it?" He growled back, closing the space between us with two long strides. "Tell me you didn't fuck Santos silly. Tell me!"

I felt like I was on the verge of hyperventilating, and my head was swimming. "I do NOT have to explain my personal life to you, Ranger." He cringed as I called him that. "You have no claim on me."

"What the fuck did Diesel do to you, T?" He asked, his eyes turning into slits. "You used to have respect for yourself. You were loyal, and honorable. I was proud to be associated with you, but now…"

"What?" I said, putting both hands on his chest and pushing, forcing him to take a step back. "But now, I'm a slut! Now, I am a ruthless, cold-hearted killer!" I pushed him again, tears streaming down my face. "Don't you think I know that! Don't you think that I see what I have become! I hate that I am used to kill! I hate that I am used as a fuck-toy, and that I am dependant on the compassion of men to get through the days. I HATE what I am."

"What exactly is that, Tabby? Because you sure as hell aren't the woman I knew. The woman I respected and loved. I can barely see that woman anymore. Did you kill her that day, to become this?"

"YES!" I screamed. "I'M A HEARTLESS KILLER. I'M A WHORE! I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER ANYTHING,and I realize now that I never should have come!" My whole body was shaking. Ric just stared at me.

"Why did you come, then?" He finally said quietly, his voice shaking with anger. I was fighting against tears, and against beating the tar out of him.

"You know why I came." I snarled. "I needed help. I have no one, not even Diesel could help me."

"He was the one that got you into this mess!" His voice was rising again, but he quickly got under control. "He knocked you up and shipped you off to me, right. Thought that I could take care of his mistakes. I am tired of being the fucking clean-up crew."

"You never…I never thought.." I started to say, before he interrupted me.

"Yeah, whatever." He grabbed me by my arms, yanking me up from the chair. "You come here, get, left a cryptic message for me only to find you brutalized. You were pregnant by another man, and you wanted me to fix everything." His voice was getting louder. "When you ran away again, I went insane. I finally had you back, and you left…you were hurt. Do act like you even care that you lost the baby!"

"Don't you dare.."

"What?" He growled. "Question your humanity? You ran away from people trying to help you…the help you asked for. Shit, Tabb, you fucked my cousin out in the open knowing that I was going to find out. You manipulated a man that I thought was a close friend to both of us, and then come in here and expect me to what…put a mint on your pillow…or better yet, hand over the rest of my men for you to fuck!"

I gasped, not being able to hold back the tears.

"I don't know what you want from me!" He roared again, tears forming in his eyes. Shaking his head to control himself, he started towards the door. He stook for a few minutes at the door, taking deep breaths. "If you are going to stay here, you aren't going to leave without an escort…and I don't mean Santos, or anyone else you could jump on. It will be either me, Bobby, Hector or Tank."

"Yes." I said, tears flowing from my eyes. He yanked open the door to find Bobby trying to hold back Tank who had his hands tightly around Les' neck.

"ENOUGH!" Ranger yelled. Tank dropped his hands, straightened out his clothes and walked away, but not before glaring at me. Another stabbing pain shot through me. I was an idiot. A fool. And Ric was right. When Les caught his breath he walked towards me, nothing but concern radiating from him.

"Tabb.." He said, before Ric slammed an open hand onto his chest.

"Cousin, you are already on thin ice. Walk away. Go back to your apartment." Ric's eyes were black with anger. Les scowled and looked at me.

"Did he hurt you?" Les' voice was soft. Ranger pushed against his chest, making him fall back a few steps. "What the fuck, Ric!" The men that had been trying to ignore the fight earlier, stood and faced them now. Unsure of what to do.

"Zero, get him to his apartment before I kill him with my bare hands. Stand guard. He is not to leave, nor is anyone to go in." Ric yelled. The man I assumed was Zero just nodded and gently grabbed Les' arm, pulling him towards the stairs whispering to him.

"Boss?" Bobby said, stepping towards me. I covered my face, trying to control the tears falling. "Please, let me come with her."

Ric nodded, before pulling me towards the elevator. We went up to the seventh floor, walked through a large wooden door, into what I could only assume was his apartment. I didn't look around, as he pulled me towards a bedroom. When we were inside, he slammed the door leaving Bobby on the otherside. He sat me down on the bed and started back towards the door, stopping when he touched the handle.

"You will stay in here. I am not going to have you running out. Bobby will stay outside the door, but I will be back." He let out a sigh. "I don't want to fight with you."

Turning around he looked at me. I could feel the tears pouring from my eyes. He sighed heavily, closing his eyes before speaking again. This time is was quiet and controlled.

"You ARE safe her, T." He shook his head then rubbed his eyes with his thumb and forefinger. "I can't..I don't know how to show you…how to explain." He cleared his voice when it started to waiver, before turning to me. His face was his infamous blank stare. "Bobby will be in shortly."

He then pulled open the door and left.


	9. Chapter 9

*******************************Bobby's POV******************************

Ranger walked out of Tabby's room, then leaned against the closed door.

"Fuck." He whispered.

"Ric…It'll be okay." I reached out and grabbed his shoulder in support. He just shook his head. "I'll try to talk to her. It will be okay."

"No, Bobby." His voice cracked before he cleared it and continued. "Fuck, I am such an ass." He patted my hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Just go in there, please. She needs you right now."

I watched as he pushed off against the door and walked out of the apartment.

I sighed and pushed open the door. She was sitting on the bed, a blank tearful expression on her face. She didn't acknowledge me until I reached out and touched her face with my hand.

"Tabb?" I asked, rubbing her cheek gently. She looked into my eyes, her lip quivering. I could tell she was trying to gather the words to tell me something. "It's okay. We can talk about this later. Let's just get you comfortable and in bed."

She nodded. I helped her up, and watched as she walked over to one of the large duffel bags. Unzipping it, she pulled out a pair of pajamas. I turned as she stripped, and changed. I heard her slide under the covers, so I flipped the light switch and crawled in bed next to her.

Her whole body was tense, as I wrapped my arms around her pressing her back into my front. I held her until she slowly slipped into sleep. Only then did I finally surrender to my own sleep, filled with tense dreams.

****************************LES's POV************************************

I paced in my apartment, seething from my encounter with Tank and Ranger. I heard movement behind the door and stalked over to it.

"Fucking bastards!" I spat, turning towards the door for the fourth time since I was escorted into my apartment. As I flung the door open I saw Ranger, Tank, and Zero standing there. Zero had a pained look on his face, and the others were blank faced.

"What the fuck do you want?" I yelled, my fists balling at my sides.

"We need to talk, cousin." Ranger's voice was flat and void of emotion.

"About what?" My voice was racked with anger. I could almost feel myself shaking with fury.

Zero put his hands out in front of him, eyes soft, showing me that there was no threat.

"Fuck, Les." Tank said, pushing his way into my apartment. "Just sit down. We need to figure this shit out."

I stalked over to my sofa, landing heavily onto the leather cushion. Leaning back, I crossed my arms across my chest feeling like a little boy about to be scolded by mommy and daddy. Tank stood at the end of the sofa with Zero, while Ranger took seat at the ottoman in front of me.

Sighing, Ranger pushed his thick hand through his hair and then looked up at me. "Cuz..I'm sorry."

"Yeah, you should be." I said snidely. I felt Tank stiffen, and I turned and glared at him "Don't even start with me, Tank. I am not the one in the wrong." I saw Tank's jaw loosen as if he was going to speak, but Ranger beat him to the punch.

"I know, and I am."

I looked at Ranger again. His eyes were soft, and his blank face had receded to an expression of sullen empathy. "Did you even talk to her, Ric? Or did you just scream at her?" I asked, trying to suppress my anger. "Do you even know what the fuck she has been through?"

"Fuck, Les." He said standing, wringing his hands. "I fucked up. I lost control, and….Shit…man; I said some pretty horrid shit."

"You fucking asshole." I leapt off the sofa, grabbing onto his collar. Tank wrapped his arms around my waist, but Ranger shook his head to tell him to let me be. "She came here because she finally realized that she can't handle this guy on her own. She needs help, and you fucking beat her down."

My hands were shaking, and I desperately wanted to hit him. My lip quivering with so much spite and I was surprised that my words didn't come out one giant blur. He just looked at me with broken eyes.

"You're a piece of fucking work. Be glad that Abuela is dead, because she would kill herself if she saw what you were doing." I heard a hiss in Tank's direction. Ranger just shook his head in agreement. I continued. "She told me that you loved her at one point in time…even asked her to marry you. What the fuck, man? First Steph, and now this! You need to just stay away from women all together if you are just going to keep treating them like this. You're a fucking coward!"

"That's enough, Santos." Tank grabbed me by the back of my shirt. "Don't fucking go there."

Ranger sunk back onto the ottoman, his head in his hands. I was writhing in Tank's arms, wanting to get free and beat the shit out of my cousin. Then I heard him speak.

"Please, Les." He whispered. "Help me, help her." I stopped fighting against Tank's grip and straightened my shirt as he let me go.

"Why? So you can kill her again with your bullshit heroics."

He shook his head. "No." His voice was sullen, his face broken. I hadn't seen Ranger like this.

"Fine." I said, my anger deflating at his obvious guilt. "You need to go and talk to her. And I mean, talk to her. Ask her what the fuck is going on. Tell her you need her help. She's dealing with a lot of shit, man. You don't even know how deep she's in it right now."

"Please, tell me." He reached out and grabbed my forearm. "I don't want to risk getting angry and hurting her anymore."

I squinted at him, "Fine. But Zero needs to go." Ranger motioned for him to leave, and sat once the door was closed. Tank took a seat on the lazy boy next to Ranger.

"She didn't have a say in leaving you all behind." I began. "When she didn't take out a little boy, she was punished…sent to some prick who treated her like a slave. I don't know exactly what it entailed, but it didn't sound like housework." I felt Ranger's anger return. "She was stuck in that shit for three years, before Diesel found a way to get her released to him. She was fucked up, man."

"What the fuck." Tank whispered.

"Yeah. And that guy was the reason that she was kidnapped. Dude's name is Grady. Steph and I have been helping her try to track him down, but he's like fucking smoke." I rambled, pushing my hands over my jeans to relieve some tension. "He's still here and is gunning for her. She came to Steph because Diesel is being locked down by his boss. She's on her own, and her people think that maybe their first assessment was right and that she needed to go back to him."

"God, I am a fucking idiot." Ranger spat, standing up and pacing the length of the room. "I gotta talk to her." He headed towards the door.

Tank jumped up and grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks. "Let her be tonight, man." Tank said calmly. "You laid into her pretty bad, and I am pretty sure that she isn't going to say a word to you. Give her some time. Tabby is in there somewhere…we are just going to have to weave through all the shit she put up around her over the years."

"Shit!" Ranger cursed, slamming his hands against my wall, leaving two large holes. Looking at the destruction, he swore under his breath and then told me that Louis will be up later to fix it.

They walked out of my apartment. I don't know if I just sealed her fate of being another prisoner, or if Ranger and Tank were serious about helping her find herself. I flipped the lock, and headed towards the shower.

**************************Ranger's POV**********************************

It had been three days since Tabby's return and she hadn't spoken to anyone but Bobby. I have thrown myself into finding this asshole, Grady. Les was right...he was like smoke. Every time we got any type of lead on him he would bolt.

Today, I was going to talk to her. I needed to hear her voice. I needed to apologize. I was on the elevator up to seven after I was done for the day, when I started to get nervous. Bobby was up there with her, and Tank was guarding the door. I had called Ella and asked her to bring up some food for all of us. I was going to try to make this a comfortable as possible.

"Boss." Tank said as the doors slid open. I nodded, and slipped past him into my apartment. He followed. "Are you ready to do this, then?" I nodded again as I slipped my keys into the bowl on the door-side table and headed towards her bedroom.

Taking a deep courage-seeking breath I knocked on the door. Bobby opened it, and nodded. I had been texting him all day to see if she was going to be willing to chat. I looked into the room and found Tabb sitting on the edge of the bed, head hanging low. She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling shakily like she was already pushing back tears. My heart was breaking. This woman was THE most amazing person I have ever met. She was strong, beautiful and smart. Anxiety started to pounce on my blank face, and I had to shake my head to clear it.

"She wants to talk to all of us at once." Bobby said, grabbing her hand and bringing her to the door. "There is no reason for her to have to say this stuff more than once. I already texted Les. He's on his way up now."

I nodded and stepped aside so that he and Tabb could walk out, my head hanging shamefully. She stopped directly in front of me, lifted my head with her hand and smiled. I smiled weakly back at her. I motioned Tank to come sit down. As we all took our seats, I stared at her my heart breaking. I needed to apologize, and I wanted to do it before anything came to light. I don't want her to think that I only wanted to apologize because of what she has been through. I cleared my throat and kneeled down in front of her. We locked eyes, and I gauged her emotions as I reached out to take her hands in mine. She willingly gave them to me, and smiled nodding her head.

"T, "I said clearing my throat again. "I am sorry for what I said, what I did and who I was to you. There is no excuse in the world for how I hurt you. I am not expecting you to forgive me, but I hope that you can understand that I will do anything to make it up to you."

She looked at me, her eyes misting over. I thought for a moment that I was too late. That my actions were too fucked up for her to even consider my apology. I opened my mouth to continue my apology when she put her hand over my mouth. She shook her head, her lips quivering.

"Tabb?" my voice was muffled behind her hand. She released my mouth from her hand, and leaned down and kissed me gently on the lips.

"Ric..." she whispered softly. "No apologies. I understand you were angry, and you had every right to be. I need to be honest with you, and then you can decide whether or not you will forgive me." She stroked the side of my face with her hand. It sent tingles throughout my body, and I involuntarily shuddered.

"You have my forgiveness. Always. I am indebted to you for my life…I can't harbor anything but adoration for you. I am done with my self-pity and misguided anger." I put my own hand over hers, sliding her hand over my mouth kissing it gently.

Les had entered the room, and was walking towards us. I took a couple steps back as he walked up to her and stood not sure exactly what do to.

She stood, pulling him into a generous embrace. He was whispering something into her ear, and she nodded. After a few, rather awkward, moments they broke and Les sat down on the chair across from me. We all sat and stared at each other for a minute not sure where to start. Sighing heavily, I got up and stood in front of her. She let out a quiet sob and then looked me in the eyes. I dropped to my knees, my emotions out of control.

**************************TABB's POV******************************************

Ric sighed again, walking back towards me and dropping down to his knees in front of me. He stared into my eyes, taking my hands in his.

"God, Tabb." He reached up and wiped away the tears. "Please, just let me in." His voice cracked as his eyes misted over. "Please."

My lip quivered, as I tried to figure out exactly how to start. Another sob broke from my lips and I covered my face, ashamed of what I had done, and who I was. He had been right. Everything he had said was true. I had betrayed the only people that had ever loved me.

"Love, please." I uncovered my face and looked into his eyes again. A tear formed at the corner of his eye threatening to fall down his cheek. I reached up wiping it away, leaving my hand on his cheek.

"I didn't want to go." I whispered. He pulled me into his arms as I broke down in sobs. He didn't shush me, just stroked my hair and held me. I regained myself, and pushed softly against him. "I want to tell you guys what happened."

Sitting me down on the sofa again, he knelt before me and gazed into my eyes. I knew that they were going to hate what I was going to tell them. He took my hands in his and nodded.

"After Diesel found me, I went to a training facility where I learned how to handle my powers, control what I had within me. The Unmentionable leaders are powerful, and make sure that when someone is found to have extreme powers…like mine… that they have control over them. I was regarded as being a great asset and they made sure that they had my complete loyalty. Training was brutal, and unrelenting. Think one step after brainwashing. I was allowed to maintain my own memories, as my military experience was useful. But my relationships had to be severed." I sighed. "That is why they killed me. I was assigned a partner, and was chosen to use my skills to take out threats against the order, and against whoever signed the check. I was lent out to various governments to manage terrorist activities done by both Unmentionables and normal people who had a great amount of skill. To protect my family, and those who knew me they destroyed my identity and created a new one. For the first five years, I killed over 150 men, women…Shit…I took out anyone they marked."

"T, I understand. I'm not a boy scout. You know that we all know what it's like to have to kill." Tank whispered to me. I looked up at him and smiled. He was always a giant teddy bear to me, but I have seen him kill a man with little internal struggle.

"I know, but mine were much more…personal." I lifted my hands, showing them my palms. "I did it with these. I had to look them in the eyes and watch as they felt themselves burning from the inside out. They would beg me, scream for mercy. But I had been ordered to leave no evidence." Ric slid next to me on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "My powers are unique in that I have such control over them. I can use them for pleasure, or I can incinerate someone in less than a minute. That and my empath abilities made me almost impossible to overcome." I could feel his anger subduing and pity seep through. Bobby put his hand on my leg, and whispered something. Les was rubbing his eyes with his fingers. I could feel the pity rolling off each of them.

"Please, don't pity me." I said, rolling his hand off my shoulder. "It was on my last mission that I refused a kill. They marked a child; he was a baby...only 5. They found out that he had the ability to kill with a single touch. He had been using it as a game, not old enough to realize exactly what he was doing. They told me to take him out, and I told them no."

Ric just nodded, stroking my hair "They sent someone else in, and I couldn't let them do it. I had to stop him, but he was relentless. I stopped him the only way that I could...I killed him. The council decided that I needed to be punished. They sent me to the other man's partner, and I was forced to be his…I was…I was forced to be whatever he needed from me." I heard Ric swear again under his breath. I continued. "I was under his command for three and a half years before Diesel was able to convince the council to consider giving me to him."

"I was prisoner in my own body. He can take control of your body through your mind. Make you do things that you never would have done…and sometimes things that you didn't think were possible. Fuck, the things that I was forced to do killed me. I wished that I had died." Tears were streaming down my face. "I was so bombarded with negativity that my empath side was becoming desperate for release…for comfort. I would strip people of their dignity, and their will power to give me the emotions that I wanted. I have been ruthless. I found that sex was the best way to get the feelings that I needed. People open up during sex; they release waves of calm and pleasure." I looked towards Les and then back to Ranger. "I'm not proud of that time. Diesel helped me by letting me use him, instead of slumming in bars and on the street." I closed my eyes, trying to push away the memories of during my desperation. When I continued, my voice was tight with sobs I trapped in my chest. "I wanted to come back. For years, I tried. I was just temporarily transferred to Diesel from my punishment, and I was afraid."

"Tabb…" He started, putting his hands up to my face to try to calm me. I pushed them gently away.

"NO." my tone was firm, but my voice was soft. "I know that you don't like the person that I have become. I don't even like who I am anymore. When I came to you I wasn't thinking of who I was, but who you knew me as. I thought that I could hide that part of me and help me. I wanted to get clean…for the baby…for me. I thought you would understand what it was like to be judged, and you'd help me. I didn't realize the hurt that I had caused, or at least I thought you'd set it aside." My knees gave out, but before I could hit the floor Ric had his arms around me. "I just wanted to have my life back." I sobbed.

"Tabb…Please." He stroked my hair, pulling him into his lap. "You don't have to be afraid of me. I didn't want to get so angry. I…shit...I have no excuse. I'm sorry."

"Ric." I started, covering my face with my hands. "I know that you were afraid of me that day…when I …I almost killed you." I looked into his eyes. "I didn't mean to. It was an accident."

"I know it was." He spoke quietly. "I know you didn't mean to hurt me."

We sat for a few minutes, him holding me stroking my hair. The guys were silent in thought. I tried to gather myself together again. It felt like I had a hole in my chest, and my throat was burning.

"I need to ask you all to help me find Grady. I need to get Diesel."

We sat in silence for a long time, all of them trapped in their thoughts. The emotions that they projected were not anger, but concern. Tank was the first to speak.

"T.." He cleared his throat. "You're home now." He stood up, walked to me and pulled me into his arms. He embraced me, his enormous arms squeezing gently. I wrapped my arms around him, as much as I could, and relaxed. Tank was always a giant Teddy bear with me. He and I were the gruesome twosome, back in the day. I was glad to have him back…and I was glad to be back.

Bobby cleared his throat. "We need to contact Diesel."

"Can I have my phone?" I asked Ranger. I had given it up to him the day after I arrived. I wanted to be completely compliant, and earn his trust back. "I can call him. I know that he will answer."

Ric nodded, and went to the kitchen. He pulled out a drawer and grabbed my phone, before walking back over and handing it to me. I dialed Diesel's number and put it on speaker phone. It rang twice before Diesel answered.

"Tabb. This isn't a good time." His voice was flat and void of emotions.

"I need you to come see him. As soon as you can." My voice was shaky.

"Where are you?"

"Ric's."

"Parking garage. Eight." He hung up abruptly.

"Well, aint he Mr. Phone manners." Les smirked.

"Yeah." I nodded, handing my phone back to Ric.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

SO, I HAVE BEEN STRUGGLING THROUGH THIS CHAPTER. I AM NOT ENTIRELY TOO PLEASED WITH IT. PLEASE REVIEW. WOULD LOVE YOUR SUGGESTIONS.


	10. Chapter 10

THE CHARACTERS ARE BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH. I ONLY OWN TABBY, GRADY AND THAYER. I KNOW THAT THIS CHAPTER IS KIND OF SHORT. CRAZY THINGS HAPPENING ON MY END OF THE PLANET…JUST WAITING FOR DIESEL TO POP IN. (YEAH…THAT CRAZY) PLEASE LEAVE YOUR REVIEWS AND SUGGESTIONS. HOPEFULLY THE NEXT CHAPTER WON'T TAKE AS LONG TO GET OUT.

It was a quarter to eight, and I was standing in the parking garage at Rangeman. Ric, Tank, Les and Bobby were inches from me in a small circle. Rubbing my hands on my pants, I nervously looked around. Diesel was NEVER late. In fact, he probably was sitting somewhere watching us. I was jonesing for a smoke. It had been weeks since I had my last one, but I was in desperate need at this point.

"Shit." I whispered softly, wringing my hands before slamming them into my pockets.

"What's the matter Tabby Catt?" Bobby asked quietly. I turned to look him in the eyes. His head was bent down, an inch or so from mine. I never smoked in front of him before. Shit, I never smoked in front of anyone but Tank, and that was years ago.

"Bobby, I need a smoke." I closed my eyes in embarrassment. He sighed, tapped Tank on the arm and whispered something to him. A moment later, a pack of Marlboro reds was waving under my nose. The smell of fresh tobacco made my toes curl in anticipation. I grabbed at it, flipping open the carton and pulling out two smokes. Tucking one behind my ear, I put the other in my mouth before looking up expectedly at Tank.

"T, those things will kill you?" He laughed as he flipped open his Zippo and ignited the flame. I lit the smoke, closing my eyes as I drew in the smoke. A small moan escaped with the exhale, and I opened my eyes and glanced around.

"Love, when did you start smoking?" Ric asked his hands folded across his chest.

"When I was 17." I smiled, pulling another long drag on the cigarette.

"How is it that I never knew?" Bobby said. "Shit, that anyone knew?"

"Tank knew." I smiled, poking Tank's broad chest with my finger. "He used to hold onto my smokes for me."

"Traitor." Tank growled. Bobby reached up and smacked Tank on the back of the head. "Ouch! What the hell, Bobby?"

"That's for supplying my baby sister with drugs." Bobby smacked him again. "And that's for hiding it from me."

"I thought I told you to quit smoking." A loud familiar voice boomed from behind the row of parked cars. Diesel.

"Yeah, well you told me to do a lot of things." I said snidely. "But I have a real problem following directions, don't I?"

It only took him a minute to cross the parking lot, before he was inches away from me. I smirked up at him. He looked tired, and stressed.

"You always were a bitch." He smiled at me, pulling me into his arms and kissing me gently.

"Yeah. It's only because you are such an asshole." I whispered into his ear. I giggled as he placed me back onto the ground and greeted the guys.

"So, what the hell is going on?" I finally asked, once the greetings, hand shaking and overall male bullshit was through.

"Tabb, you are not going to like what is going on back at headquarters." He grabbed the smoke from my hand and took a drag before throwing it to the ground and squashing it with his boot. "Grady is pulling is cards. He is trying to get the heads to revoke on my temporary custody."

"Fuck that." Bobby said.

"Yeah, tell me about it." Diesel said, raking his hands through his hair. "He's claiming the baby was his, and that you purposefully terminated the pregnancy. You know that it is considered murder, especially when it involves two Unmentionables."

"Why don't you just tell them that it was yours? You have some pull, don't you?" Les said.

"It's not that simple." I replied, grabbing Diesel's hand in both of mine. "If he admits that the baby is his, then he will be guilty of a whole mess of charges. I am only in his custody temporarily, and I am only a half-breed. It's not something that is looked upon very nicely." Diesel's eyebrows were furrowed and pain shot across his face.

"What bullshit." Tank sneered.

"Why don't you just say that it was someone else's baby?" Les suggested, putting his hands on his hips. "Someone who isn't Unmentionable. That way there is no reason for either of you to get in trouble."

"It's too late." Diesel said, hanging his head. "I have already admitted that it was me."

"You dumbass!" I cried, smacking at his chest. "They could kill you for this!" He didn't stop me as I pounded my fists against him. The tears were stinging my eyes, and my heart was racing. Ric went to grab me, but Diesel shook his head.

"Let her be." He said. "I deserve this."

"You fucking idiot!" my voice was shaking. I collapsed on to the cement floor, swatting the hands that attempted to help me up. Face in hands, I tried to control the sobbing. "They are going to pull your powers." My voice was soft now; barely audible I am sure to the men standing over me.

Diesel kneeled down in front of me, and lifted my chin with his finger. I shook his hand away and continued to stare into my palms. "Tabb, you have to listen to me. Please."

"Talk then." I said coldly, raising my eyes to see his face.

"They are willing to trade. They will take both our powers and let us out of our contract." He cleared his throat. "But Grady still has another year left on the contract with you and the higher ups can't even touch that. He would have to accept their terms." I stared into his eyes, wanting to hurt him. I love him, he is my best friend…but I wanted to kill him. "Grady agreed that he would let you go, if I would take your place until the contract is up. With no powers." My mouth dropped open. He continued. "I agreed."

That was it. I launched myself at him, punching and kicking with all my might.

"How could you?" I screamed as I tried to make contact. "He will kill you. Don't you remember what he did to me?" I punched him in the gut. He didn't even flinch. His eyes were black, and his face was blank. I felt arms come down around my waist and pull me up. I fought against them with everything I had. "Damnit Diesel!"

"Calm down, T." Tank said, struggling to maintain a hold on me. "We need to figure out what the hell to do."

"I'm gonna fucking kill him!" I screamed. Ric and Les were now helping Tank keep me from attacking Diesel. "I can't let you die for my mistake!" My voice carried across the garage. Diesel sat, legs bent, elbows resting on them. His hands were cradling his face.

"Tabb, please." Diesel whispered. "There isn't any other way. I will bring them our powers, and then be gone. When the contract is fulfilled I will find you. It will be fine."

"You have never lived without using your powers." I yelled. "You don't even know how to do laundry! How the fuck are you supposed to survive the torture! He is going to KILL you, Diesel!" I screeched.

"I would rather it be me then you." He said, pulling himself up and walking towards me. I stopped struggling, but Tank, Ric and Les held tight onto me. I looked into my eyes and touched the side of my face. Turning to the guys, he said, "Put her down. She's fine now."

A cool feeling of calm swept through my body as he stroked my face. I knew that it was one of his powers at work, and my own. Tears started to flow, followed by sobs. Diesel wrapped me in his arms and pulled me tightly to his body. "It's the only way, Tabb." He whispered over and over again in my ear.

"Let's go upstairs." Ric said, walking towards the elevators. "I think that Tabb has had a pretty rough day, and she has to go to the doctor's tomorrow. Diesel, why don't you stay upstairs on seven with Tabb? I am sure that the two of you have a lot of things to talk about."

Diesel nodded, and lifted me into his arms. We huddled into the elevator. Les, Tank and Bobby got out on the fourth floor and we continued to the seventh.

"Is there anything we can do?" Ric asked.

"At this point, nothing."

The elevator doors slipped open, and Ric opened his apartment door.

"Her bedroom is the far back one on the right." Ric said as Diesel carried me into the apartment. "I have to make some calls. Are you hungry? I can have Ella bring up something for us to eat."

"Yeah, that would be good. Some beer would be better." Diesel set me down on my sofa, and briefly touched my cheek with his hand as he kissed the top of my head. I felt numb. Diesel had just signed his death warrant. Grady would torture him, before killing him slowly. I was pretty sure that he would hold out as long as possible to get all the "fun" he could out of the deal. Grady was going to pay for this shit.

Ric and Diesel were leaning against the counter sipping on beers and talking. I grabbed the blanket from the back of the sofa and lay down. Tears rolled silently from my eyes, and soon I was asleep.

************************RANGER POV*****************************

"Here" I said to Diesel as I handed him a beer.

"Thanks." He said. "For everything. I know that this whole mess sucked ass for you."

"You brought her back in my life…in our lives." I said, taking a swig of my beer. "We missed her."

"You don't know how hard it was for her not to come back to you guys. She would sneak out sometimes, when you were all still stationed in Bragg, and follow you around." He smiled. "Shit, she knew everything that was going on in your lives for years. Even your trip to Las Vegas…I was there for that. Y'all are some serious party animals."

I shook my head, smiling. "Yeah, well when you don't get any time off you tend to make what little time you get a little more interesting." That week in Vegas was insane. I was officially banned from returning to the state of Nevada. Let me just say it involved a high speed chase, hookers, and a couple of jello-wrestling midgets. Classic. I only recently was allowed to go back, but under strict instruction that every law was to be followed. I looked over at Tabb. She had curled up into a blanket and had fallen asleep. "What's the plan?"

"Shit." Diesel said chugging the last of his beer. "Well, I plan on handing our powers over to the wards, and going to Grady. I am pretty sure that he's gonna kill me, but what can you do?"

"There has to be another way." I said, finishing my beer, grabbing his empty and tossing them both in the trash. "Another?" He nodded and I pulled two more out of the fridge. "There has to be something that this guy would take instead. He doesn't seem like the type that can't be paid off."

"He's hard core, Ranger." Diesel said. "I have to pull Tabb's powers tomorrow and then I am gone. I can't have her sitting around worrying about what is going on with me. I need you to promise me that you'll keep her safe."

"Fuck." I said under my breath. "Can't there be another way? Do your bosses know what he did to her? That can't be considered good, no matter how fucked up your laws are. Technically, he killed the baby." Diesel winced. "Listen to me. Neither of you wanted this, and I am sure that the baby would have been fine if it hadn't been for Thayer."

"Grady hired Thayer." Diesel said coldly, focusing on his beer and peeling off the label.

"Fucking asshole."

"I have tried everything. The heads don't want to hear anything about him. He's their golden child." Diesel wrapped part of a peel around his finger. "If I could get my hands on him, I might be able to get his memories...but he'd have to concent. Which is not very fucking likely?"

"What about Tabb?"

"What about her?" He looked into my eyes. "There is no fucking way she is going to be within 100 feet of that asshole. He'll kill her." He shook his head. "No. He won't kill her. He'll make her want to be dead."

"We'll figure out something." I drained the last of the beer and threw it away. "I think that we should hit the sack. It's a big day tomorrow. Her appointment is at 1030, and we all have to be there. No way am I letting her out of my sight."

Diesel nodded, finished his beer and tossed it. He lumbered over to Tabb lying peacefully on the sofa. He smiled as he leaned down and picked her up without waking her.

I walked over to her bedroom door, and held it open for him.

"Hey." I whispered. Diesel looked up at me, eyebrows raised. "No hanky panky tonight. Doctor's orders." He smiled, and nodded his head.

I closed the door and headed back to my bedroom, hitting the shower before sliding into my sheets. It wasn't long before I was sleeping.


	11. Chapter 11

**ONCE AGAIN, I OWN NONE OF THE CHARACTERS EXEPT FOR TABBY. THE OTHERS BELONG TO JANET EVANOVICH..MY HERO! I HAVE BEEN UPDATING A LITTLE SLOWLY, BUT TRUST ME…AS IT COMES OUT..IT GETS POSTED. PLEASE REVIEW. I HAVE BEEN CONTEMPLATING THE TWO DIFFERENT WAYS THAT THIS CAN GO. **

REMEMBER…REVIEWS MAKE ME WRITE FASTER.

********************* Tabby's POV *****************************

I woke the next morning stiff, but happily snuggled into a warm body. The smell of Christmas confirmed who it was and I sighed and wrapped his arms tighter around me. The next few days were going to be challenging to say the least. Today though, not as much. I had my six-week checkup with a Ranger-approved OB/GYN. I guess that I need to make sure that all my lady-bits will work properly.

I sighed, which caused Diesel to shift slightly and wake.

"Morning, Tabb." He said his voice sleepy and soft. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mmmm." I mumbled, turning over to face him. I stroked the side of his face with my hand, and stared into his eyes. "I'm sorry about last night."

He kissed my forehead, before gently pressing his head to mine. We lay for a few minutes like this, listening to each other breath. Finally, he tilted his head back and spoke.

"Honestly, I would kick my own ass if it wasn't so difficult." He smirked, pulling the pillow out from under my head causing it to smack gently against the headboard.

"Ouch." I smiled. "I could always help you if you needed." I smacked his gently on his shoulder.

Laughing, he swung me up in his arms, and stood. "It's time to get up, Tabb." He swung me around and flipped me onto the bed. I let out a shriek as he catapulted himself on top of me and started tickling me. I was screaming for him to stop when suddenly the door swung open and Ric stood in black silk boxers, holding his gun and sporting bed head.

"What the fuck?" Ric yelled, putting his gun down, and flipping the safety. I peeked out from underneath Diesel's arm and smirked.

"Sorry, man." Diesel barked out laughing.

"Fuck!" Ric spat, rubbing his hands through his hair before stepping towards the bed. "Love, why don't you go hop in the shower. I have to talk to Diesel." I shrugged, climbing out from underneath Diesel. I walked up to the dresser and rooted around for panties, bra, a pair of jeans and a soft pink tank top and then ran out the door to the bathroom attached to Ric's bedroom.

**************DIESEL'S POV*********************

Ranger stared at me intently. His mind was racing with thoughts of ways of stringing me up by various appendages.

"Really Ranger, I can't be that intolerable." I laughed stretching my arms over my head and getting up from the bed.

"I hate that you can fucking read my mind." He grumbled and glared at me with a scowl on his face. Another tirade of cursing and violent threats wafted through his mind.

"Damn, man." I walked up to him, smiling incorrigibly. "You kiss your momma with that mouth?"

"Fuck you." He whispered. "Stay out of my head."

"Alright, but as long as you stop projecting such hostile thoughts." I smirked and grabbed for my t-shirt that I had thrown on the floor last night before my shower. "What did you want to talk to me about, Ranger?"

"I need to really understand what we are up against?" His business face slapped on, and all emotions were voided. "Is this guy really too far out of our league?"

"Yeah." I sighed, running my fingers through my hair. "He's one fucked up dude. He would kill his own grandmother to get a seat on the council."

"What can we do to keep her safe?"

"Let me do what I need to do, and keep her contained here until she can handle my decision." My chest tightened with what the future was going to hold for me. "She's not going to be too happy with life in general, but she won't have her powers so she'll be easier to handle."

"You really gonna do it?" He asked quirking up one eyebrow.

"I have no other choice. The council will find her, and they'll have to give her back to Grady." I shook my head. "He'll kill her slowly, or worse."

"We have to at least try to get him." Ranger rubbed his face with both hands roughly. "What if I called inn some more men got some better weapons, more…"

I interrupted him. "Ranger, it's not going to happen." I put my hand on his shoulder. "I gotta do this. She deserves to be happy, and you know that I don't have anything really going for me. She needs to be given the opportunity to have the family that she wanted, the life that she wanted. Taking her powers will free her of her obligation and let her do just that."

"Shit." He swore quietly. "This is so fucked up." He shook his head and looked into my eyes, finally showing emotion….gratitude and sorrow. "I would take your place if it meant that Tabby would be saved."

"I know, man." I nodded solemnly. "I know." I dropped my hand from his shoulder.

I squeezed his shoulder and smiled. "Well, now that we went over all that shit. Let's get ready and see what the day brings us. Frankly, I'd like to spend the rest of my "free" time enjoying life, if you get my understanding."

He smiled, and shook his head. "I'll go call Ella to bring up breakfast, then I have to go down and run for a bit. " He smiled. "A little stress release, you know?"

"Yeah. Understood, man." I watched as he turned and left the bedroom. I owed that man more than he could ever understand. Tabb was going to need him, and I am glad that I could trust him to take care of her. God, I loved her. She was my best friend. I would do anything for her. I just hope that she doesn't hate me too much after all this is done.

***********************Tabb POV*****************************

I stepped out of Ric's bedroom feeling clean and refreshed. I sweet smell of breakfast seduced me into the kitchen where Ella sat setting up enough food to feed an army. Waffles, omelets, fresh fruit, yogurt parfaits with granola, muffins, hash browns, coffee, bagels and orange juice filled the bar.

"Smells amazing." I told her as I reached the food. "It's so much though."

"The boys are coming up to eat too." She smiled and walked over to me wrapping her arms around me. "It's good to see that smile again, Tabitha."

Ella was Ric's aunt. She and her husband had always been around when we had leave, cooking for us, and throwing big BBQs. She was like a second mom to most of us.

"It's good to smile, Auntie Ella." I hugged her back.

As we broke our hug, the front door swung open and Lester, Bobby and Tank strutted in followed by Ranger drenched in sweat and wearing nothing but black ARMY issue PT shorts. He had a brown towel draped across his shoulders and a blank look on his face.

"Princess." Les said noticing my smile before picking me up and swinging me into a bone crushing hug. "How are you feeling this morning?"

"Good." My response was muffled as my face was smashed into his chest. I felt his rumbled laughter before he set me back down onto my feet. Before I could even gain my balance Bobby had swept me up gently into his arms, carrying me bridal style. I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged him, depositing a loving kiss on his forehead.

"Morning, Bubbies."

"Did you sleep well? Nothing happened, right?" He whispered quietly to me. Bobby's eyes searched mine desperately.

"Nothing happened last night." I shook my head. He still looked concerned. "I promise. I am perfectly untouched…well, as untouched as I can get." He smiled, kissed me on the forehead and set me down.

"LT." Tank said, kissing my cheek. "You look better today." I grabbed his collar, pulled his head down to me and kissed the top of his bald head before rubbing it.

"A lot better Mr. Clean." I laughed as Les' mouth dropped open.

"Haven't heard that in years." He chuckled before smacking my ass playfully. "Just don't let me hear you call me that in front of the men, Stripperella." Les, Bobby, Ric and Ella burst out laughing. I smiled, rolling my eyes.

"OH, you have to tell me about that one." A voice called from my bedroom. Diesel was walking out carrying a gray sweatshirt. He must have popped back to his apartment because he was clean and wearing a pair of clean dark wash jeans, brown leather work boots, and a soft blue Henley. He tossed a leather jacket onto the back of the sofa.

"Old girl here had to go undercover as a stripper. She was really good too." Tank smiled, punching me playfully on my chin. "Until some guy tried to expand her business in happy ending massages." They all started laughing, grabbing their sides.

"Hey!" I cried. "He deserved it! I was a classy stripper. I kept my panties on, and didn't do private dances. He needed to be reminded of the house rules."

"Yeah, but you didn't have to super glue his dick to his leg AFTER you kicked his ass." Ric said around barks of laughter. The boys all cringed, but still laughed.

"Plus, I distinctly remember you doing private dances." Tank gasped through teary laughter, wipeing at his eyes removing tears of laughter.

"Fuck you, Tank." I said launching myself at him, knocking him to the floor. I straddled his chest and poked at his collar bones making him giggle like Ernie from Sesame Street. "You promised not to tell anyone about that." Tank's laugh caused everyone to almost double over in laughter, except Ric who stood open mouthed.

"Shit, Ranger." Les said. "Did you at least tape it?"

Ric's face was perplexed. "It wasn't me." He said quietly. The laughter stopped and everyone stared at Tank and I.

"Damnit!" I continued my assault on Tank's secret tickle spot hoping that he would pee himself. "It was your birthday and you promised you wouldn't tell ANYONE! You said that it would make up for me landing us in that Mexican prison."

"Okay…Okay…" Tank gasped. I let up on my tickling and smacked him on the top of his bald head, leaving a bright red handprint. "Ouch! Fuck T!"

"You SO deserved that." I snarled as I got up and stamped over to the bar grabbing a muffin, taking a big bite.

Tank got up and smiled, getting a high five from Les and a death glare from Ric. "Oh lighten up, Ric." He said, smacking his hand on Ric's shoulder. "It was harmless. It's not like I got a happy ending."

Ric's eyes glinted, and a smirk spread across his face. I took another bite of muffin and watched as he stalked over to me. My heart raced as he stopped inches from me, and leaned his mouth towards my ear. "I didn't need the private dances; I got all the happy endings?" I giggled as he kissed the tattoo behind my ear. He headed towards his bedroom calling over his shoulder that he was going to hop in the shower.

"You know, my birthday is coming up." Les said as he draped himself over the counter to grab an apple. Looking up at me he smiled and waggled his eyebrows. A loud "smack" echoed off the walls of the room as Tank's hand hit the back of Les' head. "Fuck, man! Y'all are going to give me brain damage."

I laughed, and kissed Les on the cheek leaving my hand to caress it. "Silly, Les."

"This place is a fucking mad house." Diesel said, shaking his head as he began to pile a mountain of food onto a plate before drenching everything in syrup.

"You should be here during the holidays." Les replied, grabbing a plate and loading it up. "Ella makes this Egg nog that will drop Tank to his knees. We usually get shit-faced. It's guaranteed that someone ends up naked, in drag, or duct taped naked to the gym's ceiling." Bobby and Tank giggled, implying an inside joke.

"Alright, boys…and Tabby…dig in before it gets cold." Ella said, pushing Bobby and Tank towards the bar. "Ranger will be out soon, and you know he is going to want to get on with the day." She said her goodbyes and walked out the front door, sending instructions to leave the mess for her later over her shoulder.

As everyone filled their plates and sat down, Ric strode out of his bedroom fresh from his shower. His hair was slicked back, glossy and thick. He was wearing black cargoes, Black CAT boots, and a black wife beater. He was carrying a Rangeman issue black t-shirt in his hand.

I watched as he filled his plate with fruit, some yogurt and granola and a small amount of omelet. I smiled as he looked around before popping a small chunk of a Strawberry cheesecake muffin in his mouth. He saw me looking as he grabbed his coffee and smiled shrugging his shoulder.

Sitting down next to me, we all ate in near silence. I stared out at the men surrounding me. Every one of them would kill for me; they would probably even die for me. In Diesel's case, he is choosing to die for me. A lump began to form in my throat, as I thought about the horrors that he was going to endure in my stead. I looked at Ric. He had changed so much since I walked out of our lives. He had drawn up the walls around him, only letting in a small few and even only for a little of him. My heart ached for him, and missed openly loving him.

I felt a hand on my thigh, and turned to look at Bobby. "Deep thought?" He asked whispering.

"Not so deep." I sighed. I looked again at all their faces. They were shoveling their food, their military habits still strong. Except for Diesel, who didn't have military experience, he was just a bottomless pit. "I am just going to hurt them, Bubbies." I whispered, tightening my mouth so suppress the sob that wanted to sneak through.

Using his finger, he turned my face to his, looking into my eyes. "Tabby. You are the most important thing in the world to me. You are my family, my blood. They feel the same. If we didn't do everything that we could to keep you safe, it would kill us. It almost did the first time."

I felt a rouge tear slip down my cheek defiantly. He brushed it away with his thumb and pulled me into his arms in a loving embrace. Closing my eyes, I focused on the emotions that he was projecting and basked in them. I felt him slide me into his lap and push his chair backwards. He rocked slightly back and forth as my sobs broke through my self-restraint and tears poured soaking his shirt. I knew the room had gone silent, but didn't care. No one in this room was going to pass judgment about me. No one was going to find me weak, or petty. Bobby was right. They are my family and the most important people in the world, and I needed to keep them safe.

When my tears subsided, and I was able to regain some control I sat up from Bobby's lap and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you Bubbies."

"Anytime, Tabby Catt." He put his forehead to mine. "Anytime."

"Well," I said with a big sigh, finally looking around the room at the men. Their eyes were filled with concern. "I feel a lot better now." I giggled nervously. "I am a woman, guys. I am allowed to have a breakdown every now and then, don't you think?"

Diesel stood up, walked the short distance to me and plucked me up from Bobby's lap into his arms. He held me and kissed my neck before setting me onto my feet.

I turned, my back leaning against Diesel, and looked towards them men again. They were cleaning off the table, bringing the dishes to the sink. I smiled and watched how well they worked together. It was like they were a single unit, moving flawlessly. When one would move the other would follow wordlessly with the next step. As Ric wiped the last of the crumbs off the table, tossing them into the garbage can he put his hands on his hips and spoke.

"It's time." He pointed to Diesel. "I know you don't normally carry, but today you are. You too." He pointed to the both of us and motioned for us to follow as he walked back into his bedroom.

We followed, and watched as he came out of his closet with two black holsters, two vests, four guns and two knives with sheaths. He handed Diesel his, and helped me into mine. He slipped the vest over my tank top, and reached to grab a black Rangeman hoodie from his closet. He attached my utility belt, attaching a gun to my left side, and an ankle sheath for the knife before slipping the hoodie over my head.

Diesel didn't look as uncomfortable as I had thought he would has he strapped the knife to his right ankle, one gun to his left ankle, two more at either side by dual holster. He saw me looking at him and winked.

"I am one sexy armed man. Dangerous even." He smiled mischievously. I laughed as he did a tuck and roll before whipping out one of the guns in an overly dramatic TV-show cop move. "Freeze, sucka!" He yelled.

Ric just looked at him and sighed, before turning back to me. "How do you put up with him?" He asked, his eyes filled with the laughter that he refused to express.

"He makes me laugh." I said, pulling on Ric's ear playfully. "I remember a time when you would too."

"Oh, I can make you laugh, Love." He smiled. He snake his arms around me, and I knew exactly what he was going to do.

"You even think about it and I will have to hurt you, Ric." It was an empty threat and he knew it. Raising his eyebrows and shaking his head he began a gentle assault on my ticklish spots. I didn't have many, and the ones that I had were rather unconventional. His fingers dug gently into the spot below my shoulder blades as he tickled me relentlessly. I was almost seizing with laughter, gasping for breath. Diesel just sat on the floor watching, his shoulders shaking with laughter. Ric stopped his attack, and kissed me on the lips gently.

"See I told you I can still make you laugh." He let me go, chuckling softly.

"Oooh..Manoso." I sarcastically spat at him. "I'll get you for that one. When you aren't even expecting it." He motioned his hands in a 'bring it' motion and smiled. I flicked him off and stormed out of the room, shouting over my shoulder. "Come one boys, playtime is over. I need to go get my lady parts checked out." All five of them groaned.

We all crammed into the elevator, which was quite a feat since all of them were bears. Good thing the elevator was quick and the garage was cool. The only vehicle that was big enough was the Expedition, so we all piled in. I was stuck in the middle row with Les on one side and Bobby on the other. Tank was driving and Ric was driving shot gun. Diesel was sprawled out in the back seat looking out the windows.

The drive to the clinic was short, and we got a great parking spot when we arrived. We all crept out of the car, the men all taking in their surroundings and checking for threats before they even let me move from the center seat. I walked into the clinic surrounded by the men in a large circle, Ric in the lead and Diesel and Bobby at my back.

"Tabitha Howell." Ric said to the admin clerk at the front of the clinic. "We'd like to bring her back immediately."

"Yes, Mr. Manoso. The room is already waiting for her. We understand her …"special"…circumstances." The clerk said before grabbing a file and walking around the desk. "Follow me please." We all walked down a small hallway and stopped as the nurse came to a small room. "You aren't all going to fit in here, and I am sure that Ms. Tabitha is not going to want you all in there. It's a rather intimate appointment. You are more than welcome to wait by the door." With that she set the file down on the counter and left.

"So, who's going to stay with her?" Les asked, his eyebrows waggling suggestively.

"Seriously, I don't need supervision for this. It's pretty routine." I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Plus, I don't know if I really want any of you to watch this. It's kind of personal."

"I'll stay with her." Bobby said. Everyone turned and looked at him. "Listen, I am the only one here who doesn't have an ulterior motive in this situation. She is my sister, and I have a medical background."

"Thank you, Bobby." I sighed.

"Excuse me." A muffled voice called from beyond my sea of bodyguards. "Excuse me. Damn." A big sigh. "Mr. Manoso, could you please part the sea of men at the door so I can see my patient."

Ric nodded and all the men slammed back against each side of the wall. An elderly man, with a balding head and a white coat came up to me. He held out his hand and I took it as he introduced himself.

"Ms. Tabitha. My name is Dr. Andrews. I am going to be checking on you today. My nurse will be here in a minute." He shook my hand lightly and gestured to the patient room. "After you."

Bobby and I walked in. He took a stoic position near the door as the Dr assisted me up onto the exam table. The Doctor looked at Bobby and then at me.

"He will be staying with me through the entire appointment Doctor." I explained. "He is Rangeman's medical personnel and my brother. He is more than qualified to be in here."

The doctor just smiled, and shook Bobby's hand. "If you have any questions, please ask. And if you have any information for me, please let me know." The nurse flitted into the room, flushed by the amount of muscle clad men in the hallway, no doubt. She smiled at me and Bobby and introduced herself as Angela.

With that the door closed and the exam begins.


	12. Chapter 12

After a few embarrassing questions and an even more embarrassing position, the doctor told me that everything was fine. I cleaned up, and sat waiting on the exam table for him to return.

"I love you, Tabby Catt." Bobby said in an exasperated tone. "And I would do ANYTHING for you. But please don't let me do this ever again."

I laughed, slapping his arm lightly. "Don't worry. I think that makes two of us."

"I just wanted to punch him when he was examining you." He rubbed his face hard. "Makes my whole, 'Turn your head and cough' appointments seem much more innocent." We were laughing when the doctor knocked on the door and came back in.

"Well, Tabitha." Dr. Andrews said, wringing his hands. "Your scarring is minimal and has healed nicely. You should have no problem conceiving, but I would recommend that you wait at least a couple more months before you try again, to make sure that your cervix is completely healed."

"That is NOT going to be a problem." I smiled, as he sat down in his rolling chair by the room's computer.

"Have you though any about birth control?"

"Actually I have." I turned to Bobby to watch his face. He had pulled his blank face down, and was obviously trying to ignore this conversation. "I was needing something that I didn't have to take every day, and that would be easy. And I move around A LOT, so I never see the same doctor more than once."

"You should look into an IUD." He said, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a pamphlet before handing it to me. "It can last up to 5 years, and there's no real…maintenance." He smiled at the last word. "You just need to get your annual physical, and check monthly yourself."

I looked over the pamphlets. "Sounds good. When can I get one?"

"Well, let me get some things together, and we can get it in." He stood. "It will be painful for a couple of days. It's going into your uterus, so you might feel some pretty good cramping and even some contraction like pains."

"Not a problem."

A half hour later, I was hobbling my way out of the patient room. Dr. Andrews was right, this hurt like a bitch. Not only did he ram something up into my uterus, but I feel like I was skewered and gutted.

"You okay, Beautiful." Les asked gently putting his hand on my back.

"What the hell happened to her?" Ric asked as he cornered very scared looking Dr. Andrews.

"Down boys." I said, pulling Dr. Andrews away from their huddle and walking with him down the hall. "Thank you so much, Dr. Andrews. I will call you if I have any questions or problems."

He nodded, patted me on the shoulder with a smile and left.

"You all have to back down a bit." I scolded them, hands on my hips. "He is a doctor, and I am fine. I may be sore for a little while, but I will be fine. I just want to go home, take a long hot shower and veg out."

"Alright, let's head back." Ric said, waving his hand to motion his men to assume our moving position. This time, Bobby wrapped his arm around my waist and half-carried me to the SUV.

When we arrived, I slunk to my bedroom to gather my comfy clothes and headed for the shower.

*********************Ric's POV********************************

"So, what did the doctor say?" Diesel asked Bobby as we all sat around the breakfast bar in the kitchen.

"Come on guys." Bobby sighed. "If you want to know the details, you have to ask her."

"But everything's okay, right?" Tank asked, taking a sip from his beer.

"Everything is fine. Doc said she would be sore for a couple of days, but she is great." Bobby chugged his beer and got up to get another one. "I will tell you this though. I will NEVER go into another OB/GYN appointment again. That is some crazy shit."

"You just can't appreciate it because she's your sister." Les smiled. I smacked him on the back of his head.

"Cuz, you are so fucked up." I smiled as Les contemplated this for a second and then nodded. I laughed. "Fucker."

We sat drinking beer and staring off into space for about 20 minutes before anyone said anything.

"What are we going to do now?" Bobby asked, looking at each of us.

"Well, I know what I have to do." Diesel said, slamming the last of his third beer. "Just not looking forward to it."

"I bet we could find him." Tank said, pulling the label off his beer in small chunks and piling them on the counter. "We have Tabby, and he wants her. Why don't we just put it out on the street? I bet he'd come running."

"Not that easy." Diesel sighed.

"I'm not going to let Tabby be fucking bait, either." Bobby spat, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Listen, I appreciate that y'all want to fix this, but there isn't anything you can do." Diesel stood and ran his hands through his hair. "It was my fault that she was in this mess to begin with. I should have fought the council to keep her as my partner, but I didn't. I definitely should have kept her out of Grady's hands."

The bedroom door clicked and Tabby walked out. She was wearing low-rise flared jeans, a soft pink button down shirt and pink and white sneakers. Her hair was pulled into two French braids and dampened the shirt slightly where the ends of the braids settled.

"I feel a lot better." She said, making her way to Diesel. She slipped her arm around his waist and snuggled into him.

"You look like you feel better." Diesel said, kissing the top of her head. A wave of jealously burned through me. I clenched my fist and ground my teeth. I knew that I had no right to have these controlling emotions over her, but there seemed to be no negotiating with my heart. Taking a few deep breaths, I slowly unclenched my fists and shook my head slightly to clear it of the murderous thoughts I was having over Diesel.

A shrill ring broke my thoughts, as Tank's cell phone rang. As he picked it up, Diesel's went off and he unwound himself from Tabby before stepping away to answer it. Tabby shrugged her shoulders and made her way over to where we were sitting.

"I didn't think you would all be sitting here waiting for me." She smiled as she grabbed the beer out of my hand and took a drink. "There isn't anything going on today?"

"Nothing more important than being here." I said snaking an arm around her waist and pulling her towards me. She stood between my legs, leaning against my chest. She smelled like lilac and vanilla. I pulled gently on one of her braids and smiled. "I always like you in braids."

She turned to face me. "I know why you liked me wearing braids." She slapped me playfully. "I think I remember you referring to them as being your own personal handle bars."

"Yea." I wrapped the braid around my hand and pulled again. "It's a great way to steer you where I want you to go."

"Jerk." Tabby laughed, unwrapping her hair from my hand and flipping it over her shoulder.

Tank flipped his phone shut and looked at me, motioning slightly towards the door with his head. I nodded and watched as he pulled Bobby and Lester out to the elevator.

"So what's on the agenda for me today, then?" Tabby asked, pulling herself up onto my lap and folding her hands in her own.

"Nothing that I know of." I took another drink of my beer. "We can do whatever you want. I am offline today."

"Ooh.." She said, jumping excitedly on my lap. "I want to go to the mall, and then out for dinner and dancing."

"I am sure that we can manage that." I smiled, stroking her cheek softly with my knuckle.

"Thanks, Ric." She said as she placed a hand on either side of my face and gently kissed me on the lips. Smiling, she slipped her hand through my hair. "When did you decide to keep it so long?"

I shrugged, "I don't usually have a lot of time to worry about it. So, I just cut it when I need to."

"Typical male." She laughed, pulling both hands through my hair. "I like it though. It's rugged."

"I'm glad." I growled. She was gently scratching her nails on my scalp, sending shivers down my spine.

"FUCK!" Diesel's shout startled both of us, causing me to almost dump Tabby on the floor. Diesel was pacing back and forth in the living room, his phone the obvious culprit. He stopped pacing long enough to rip his phone in half and stomp on the pieces.

**************************Tabby's POV***********************************

"Diesel?" I asked pulling from Ric's lap and walking towards him. Anger was radiating from him in huge thick choking waves, and he was shaking. I took a deep breath to calm my heart, which had begun pumping furiously when his projected emotions hit me. I glanced back at Ric, who was just sitting dumbfounded in his chair. I reached out and touched his arm lightly. A bolt of burning heat shot though me, making me gasp almost double over. I saw Ric jump from his chair and reach me before I could even regain my breath.

"You okay, Tabb?" Ric asked, pulling me into his arms and rubbing my back gently.

"I'm fine." I turned to look again at Diesel, who was panting quietly, with a look of horror in his eyes.

"Tabb," Diesel whispered, wringing his hands. "Shit. Did I hurt you?"

"No." I shook my head. "I am fine. Just caught me off guard, that's all."

"You shouldn't have to be on guard with me." He said angrily. "I can't lose control of this, I can't imagine what I would do if..."

I pulled from Ric's grasp and reached for him, stopping an inch away and looked at his eyes. "Deep breath, D." my voice was soft and almost sing-songy. "I'm going to touch you, okay?" I waited until he nodded before gently resting my open palm on his forearm. The heat was intense, but bearable. I choked back my gasp and wince and began stroking his arm gently. "See, everything is okay. Let me help you, okay?"

Ric stood anxiously, waiting to pounce on Diesel the moment that I showed any sign of pain or discomfort. Diesel looked mortified, and absolutely livid. I slowly placed my other hand's open palm on the other forearm, before stroking that side as well. He had stopped shaking, but still radiated heat. I could feel the tips of my fingers and the base of my wrist began to get tender, but didn't let go.

"Are you ready?" I asked, again my voice slow, soft and sing-songy.

"Do it." Diesel closed his eyes, bracing himself. I concentrated on the heat he was giving off, feeling as it waved like water between us. Running my hands up his arms to his shoulders, I could feel the heat following my movement, ebbing away. When I reached the crook where his shoulders and neck met, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. A rush of heat slammed into my body, flowing down my arms and legs, swirling around my neck and back before rolling into a ball in my chest. It burned uncomfortably, but didn't hurt. I opened my eyes and saw Diesel's staring back to me. He placed one hand on my chest, and the other on my back across from it. Still staring into my eyes, we took a deep breath before he pressed both hands towards each other, before pulling the hand on my chest to his own chest. The heat followed his movements, and I gasped loudly as it was pulled from my chest and into his.

We stood for a moment, leaning gently on one another for support as our heart rates gradually went back to normal.

"What the fuck was that?" Ric asked, hands loosely at his sides, mouth slightly open. I patted Diesel on the chest before taking a step back.

"It's been a while." I said to Diesel. He nodded, his expression worn and broken. "Wanna talk about it?"

I went over to one of the chairs at the breakfast bar and downed the last of Ric's beer. Ric stood next to me and waited patiently for an explanation, as Diesel grabbed three more beers from the fridge. He set one in front of me, and Ric and then chugged the last one.

"That." I waved towards where we had been standing. "Was getting control over a rampant Unmentionable power."

"Are you hurt?" Ric placed his hand gingerly on my shoulder. His eyes were filled with concern.

"No. I'm fine. It's not so much that it hurts, just that it takes a lot of you." I struggled to get the top off of the beer, swore softly and then thrust it towards Ric. He chuckled and opened it before handing it back to me. "Diesel used to have to do that all the time with me. Usually when your emotional state becomes overwhelmed, your powers will try to compensate. It happens, but I have only had to do it a few times with him."

"Thanks, Tabb." Diesel said, kissing the top of my head and stroking my cheek gently.

"Tell me what happened." I grabbed his hand and laced my fingers through his. "I know that you don't lose control, especially like that. The last time was when..."

"Yeah, I know." He interrupted, sighed and then continued. "Grady has requested the council formally demand your powers."

"When."

"Tomorrow." He shook his head. "I don't know if I will be able to delay them. He's pretty adamant about getting them, he wants to be present."

"NO fucking way." Ric yelled. "He isn't coming near her." I laced my other hand through his, pulling both to my chest. I swallowed hard, trying to push down the tears that were tightening my throat.

"Where."

"He doesn't care." Diesel's voice was rough, and I could tell he was trying to gain control as well. "I am not going to let you do this alone."

"Call him. I will give my powers up, but at my terms. I have a feeling that if I do it with him there he will try to retaliate when I am weak." I looked into Ric's eyes. "I would like to ask for your protection. I don't want to put you in harm's way, but I know that you would be able to get me out alive."

"Always." Ric kissed my cheek. "You always have my protection. I will have to call a meeting and get my core team together and briefed." He turned towards Diesel. "I need to know what we are up against. What are his powers, what is he capable of, and how do I take him down if I need to?"

"He can manipulate your mind, and make you do things that you wouldn't do. He uses your fear to fuel his intentions. He doesn't have any striking powers, like heat, or electricity but he can convince your mind that you're dead and stop your body from functioning."

"He needs to be able to touch you to do real damage though." I interjected. "Once he has you in his grasp, he can make you do anything. From a distance, he has only suggestions, but he can veil your thoughts and make you think you're seeing something you're not."

"How the fuck do I compete against that?" Ric said to himself as he ran his free hand through his hair. With a sigh he pulled out his phone, pressed a button and spoke into the phone. "Core meeting in 10 minutes."

I looked from Diesel to Ric, my eyes watering as I thought about what they were doing for me. If anyone got hurt, or god-forbid killed, I would never forgive myself. Standing, I released my grip on their hands and walked back into my bedroom. Opening the closet I pulled out the cardboard box that Diesel had brought from my apartment. I grabbed the teddy bear that I had gotten from Bobby for my 8th birthday and headed back out to where I left Ric and Diesel.

"Love?" Ric asked, eyeing the teddy bear.

"You'll see." I grabbed Ric's unopened beer off the counter, and headed for the door. "Let's go."

We piled into the elevator, and as I was about to press the button I stopped. I turned facing both of them; their faces were taut with concern and stress. They stood shoulder to shoulder, and looked at me. I felt my bottom lip quiver, but sniffed quickly to gain control.

"I want you two to know how much I love you." My fingers curled nervously around the bear's ribbon. "I want you to know that you two are responsible for the majority of my happiness." Pressing the button for 5, I lunged at both of them, one arm wrapped around each of their necks, pulling them tightly to me. "This isn't going to be the end." They wrapped their arms around me and held me as descended.


	13. Chapter 13

_****Same old, same old…not mine.****_

_****sorry it took so long…crazy RL had me running circles for months. I needed to end this so that I could start the new year fresh. I hope you enjoy.****_

TABBY POV

The alleyway was dark, and the smell of wet pavement and stale garbage permeated the air. I shuffled quietly from foot to foot waiting for my signal from Tank. The plan had been perfect, but I was still nervous as hell. There were too many things that could go wrong, too many opportunities for people to get themselves killed..or worse.

"Romeo to Tango." Ranger's voice echoed through my earpiece. Silently chuckling at his call-name I pressed the comm buttons at my neck and whispered my response.

"Tango here. All clear." I could feel the tension though the line. "Bring the stress down a bit there Romeo, you're killing me."

Ranger's deep soft chuckled followed. "Tango, there's no stress. This is play."

I had to stop myself from snorting. That was one of our call signs during active duty. I crouched down, self-consciously grasping onto the vial that hung around my neck. I closed my eyes, feeling the air around me and waiting impatiently for a sign that Grady was near. After a few tense minutes, I felt it. The cold, unearthly chill that Grady's aura cast. He was close, very close. I tapped my comm unit twice, signaling his arrival before stepping out into the alleyway to confront him.

"Grady." I said sternly, willing away the ache his negative thoughts seared into my psyche.

His back was turned to me. When I spoke his name I could see his back tense slightly before his slowly turned to face me. "Ah, my little one." His voice was like broken glass against my ears, and I struggled to contain the shiver it caused me. "So glad that you could meet me here." I stiffened as he walked towards me, sauntering arrogantly.

"I have an alternative arrangement for us to discuss." I spoke, my words cold and without any of the fear and anxiety that was rumbling deep within me.

"An arrangement." He purred, now standing mere feet from me. He smacked his gloved hands together in front of him making a loud thwacking noise. "I miss the arrangement that you and I shared." He grinned wolfishly as he slowly slipped the midnight leather gloves from his hands, lingering at each fingertip before pulling. "I am assuming that this _arrangement_, as you call it, would involve our little Diesel now wouldn't it."

"He isn't going to sacrifice himself to you." I said flatly, pulling in a deep breath. "And neither am I."

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk." He shook his head, tucking his gloves into his pocket. "You know I wouldn't tolerate not being refused my just rewards for your impudence. The council is supporting this decision, and without equal reparations, I will not concede my initial request."

"The agreement that was made with the council will not be fulfilled, but negotiations have to be made." I took a step back. He smiled, reaching out and grabbing the collar of the black jacket I was wearing. I stumbled forwards as he pulled me tightly against him, locking my wrists together with one of his massive hands.

"The only negotiation that I will make is to have what Diesel took from me." His breath was hot against my face. I pulled against his grip, desperately clearing my mind of everything. Once again he clicked his tongue at me. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You know better than to shut me out of your mind." Releasing my collar he reached up he grabbed my braided hair and twisted it around his hand. "I have ways of releasing your thoughts. Do you remember?"

"Y-yes." I stammered, chastising myself for showing weakness. I cleared my throat. "I am not who I was when you enslaved me. I have learned a great deal about my powers and how to use them." I smiled, desperately trying to maintain the blank state of my thoughts.

"And how is that, my nymph." He growled into my ear, tightening the grip on my hair sending a shooting pain through me. "Do you think, now, that you can match me?"

"No." I said, squaring my jaw and staring him dead in his eyes. "I am much better."

He tilted his head back and laughed an unearthly, evil laugh. Still chuckling he responded. "You…better than me? Oh, this is rich. Your little fuck-toy sure has boosted your ego hasn't he." He released my hair, raking his hand down my body, grabbing at my breasts before settling a hand between my thighs. "There is nothing that you could ever do to become better than me." His voice was thick with distain. "I own you, even if you let any man you meet contaminate you." He raised his hand from my inner thighs to my stomach, settling it softly against my skin. "Even when you let them impregnate you with their bastard children."

My willpower snapped with that. I focused every ounce of my energy on the hand settled on my stomach and pushed the hatred, pain and frustration that he had made me feel into the burning. He faltered slightly against the pain, but I grabbed him before he could break contact with me.

"Tabby!" Ranger's voice echoed in stereo sound through my COMM unit as he ran into the alleyway. "Do it, Tabby!"

I looked beyond Ranger and saw Diesel pushing past him, sprinting towards Grady and I. I closed my eyes, wrenched a hand loose from his now slackened grip and thrust the stone from the vial around my neck.

"Grady." I whispered into his ear. He turned to face me, his eyes filled with confusion. "I have settled our negotiations. You will pay with your own…your own powers." I slammed the fist with the stone against the side of his face, feeling his power surge through it into me. His back arched as the last of it drained from his body. "And with your life." I spat at him, as I ripped the stone from his skin and vaporized him with every last ounce of heat that I could muster. I watched with sick fascination as his body began to glow bright white before bursting into ashes and falling to the filthy soaked concrete of the alleyway.

My body was vibrating with the power I had received from Grady via the stone, and with the morbid satisfaction of killing him. I closed my eyes, feeling no solitude in my actions. I felt the horror that Ranger, Diesel and his men were feeling as they watched me murder Grady. I felt the anger that Diesel felt knowing that I had just signed my death by killing a powerless human using my Unmentionable powers. Taking a deep breath, I opened my eyes to see Ranger standing directly in front of me. Tears pooled my eyes, blurring his features.

"Tabby." He whispered, unsure of what he should or could do. I pushed away his hands reaching to comfort me. "Please, Tabby."

"Ric. It's done." I whispered, barely able to speak. "I couldn't.."

"Querdia." He pulled me into his arms, forcing his way past my own pushing arms.

"Ranger." Diesel's voice was gruff behind him. "We have to go. She can't be found here. They'll kill her."

His grip only tightened for a moment before he lifted me into his arms and began walking out of the alley way.

"Ric, put me down." I whispered once again. My muscles burned and my body ached. He shook his head and began to sprint towards one of the large black SUVs that had been parked around the corner from the alley. I groaned, pulling myself into a tight ball in his arms, feeling the burning pain from Grady's power that I had taken inside of me. "I need Diesel."

He glanced down at me as we stopped in front of the SUV. His face was riddled with anguish, his aura radiating his emotions painfully. Setting me on my feet against the SUV, he placed an arm around my waist.

"Ranger, step back." Diesel commanded. "She can't take that much power into her at once. She needs me to help her." Ranger conceded reluctantly pulling away from me.

"Diesel.." I gasped, my hands shaking as I reached towards him. He brought my hand to his lips, kissing it gently.

"Tabby." He nuzzled my hand in his and looked into my eyes. I nodded, pulling myself upright and placing a hand on his chest. "Close your eyes, love." I nodded again, closing my eyes as a tear streaked down my face.

"I'm sorry." I murmured as I unfurled my fingers that still grasped onto the stone before pressing it to his palm.

"Tabby, no." Diesel cried as I released my powers to him. Pain sliced through every inch of my body, as Grady's Unmentionable power coursed through the connection made with the stone. Once it had drained from me, I pulled my hand back breaking the connection still holding onto my powers. Diesel slumped barely conscious to the ground, his chest heaving and breath panting.

Ranger stood next to me, stunned at what he had just seen.

"Tabby, what did you do?" He finally spoke, his voice shattering the unearthly silence that had fallen. I reached for him, and pulled myself up again his chest. His arms automatically wrapped around me protectively. "Tabby?"

"Ric." I whispered into his ear. "I have always loved you. Please, take care of Diesel. Find love and be happy." I pulled back slightly to look into his beautiful chocolate brown eyes, tears flowing freely down his gorgeous face.

"Tabby, what are you.." I didn't let him finish. I pressed my lips to his, savoring his taste. He kissed me back, desperation and love mixed with fear. When the kiss broke, we were breathless. "Please, T.."

Putting a finger to his lips, I silenced him. He stood, staring at me in utter confusion as I knelt down in front of Diesel and pulled his face into my hands.

"Dear Diesel." I began, staring into his watery eyes. "You know this is for the best." He opened his mouth to speak, but I kissed him softly, chastely. "Thank you." I stood, wavering slightly as my muscles fought the action and stepped a few paces away.

"No!" Diesel cried, as I closed my eyes and opened my jacket and shirt enough to place my hand directly over my heart.

I smiled as I pressed my naked palm to my chest and, after taking a deep breath, sent a deathly surge of heat through my hands.

Diesel's POV

We both stared for a moment, rooted to our spots as if held by steel bands, as Tabby began to glow bright white. Her eyes flew open the last moment, as an expression of peace fell across her face. A moment later she vanished into a cloud of ash.

A gut wrenching scream broke from my lips, as my heart broke. Tabby was gone.

Ranger's POV

I stood unmoving as the ashes swirled delicately before ascending into the night air. My heart stopped beating as the realization of what really just happened hit me with such a force that I fell to my knees with a thud.

Diesel's scream was the only sound, burning in my brain the memory that I knew was going to haunt me for the rest of my life. 'Tabb was gone. She's really gone.' I thought as my breath caught in my chest and burned in my throat.

I knew the rest of the guys must have seen what had happened, but I wasn't capable of any type of speech at the moment to explain what it had meant. Trapped within my own mind, I stared at the spot that she had occupied just a moment ago. Lost in my thought, I didn't hear someone come up from behind me and lift me onto my feet.

"Come on, Ric." Tank's voice echoed in my head. I looked at his face, and noticed tears streaming down his face. "Let's get you home."

I nodded, leaning against him for support as he helped me into the SUV. Diesel was helped in by Bobby and placed on the seat next to me. We locked eyes for a moment, sharing in the pain that we both felt. From this moment on we both knew that we were going to keep our promise to Tabby.

EPILOGUE

The days grew into months and into years. My heart never healed entirely, but I kept not only my promise to watch over Diesel, but to find love. I had received a phone call from Connie, the office manager at Vincent Plum's Bail bonds office about a new bounty hunter that they had recently hired. I smiled thinking back to the day that I met Stephanie at the diner at Connie's request and accepted the meeting. Pulling into the old diner, I parked my Turbo in my usual spot and headed inside. I was early, as usual, and took a seat in a booth with my back to the wall.

A few minutes later, the bell above the door chimed announcing a customer had walked in the door. I glanced up from my coffee and watched as a beautiful woman with long curly brown hair strode into the diner. She smiled when she saw me, and began walking over to the booth where I was sitting.

"You must be Carlos Monoso." She said, jutting out her hand for me to shake. I smiled, and stood taking her hand in mine.

"Yes I am." I motioned for her to sit. "You must be Karoline Reynolds. It's nice to meet you."

She smiled a beautiful smile and blushed slightly. "It's nice to meet you. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I feel silly about asking for help. But I was hoping that you would mentor me. I was thrust into this job, and am feeling a little overwhelmed."

"It's not the easiest job." I chuckled, motioning for her to sit, as I nodded to the waitress. "What exactly got you into fugitive apprehension?" I watched her in amazement as she pulled her coat from around her and placed it on the back of her chair before sitting.

"I am recently divorced, broke and can't stand sitting behind a desk for too long. I needed a change, and frankly a little excitement." The waitress had brought another cup of coffee which Karoline had accepted.

"Well, what exactly would you like for me to help you with?" I asked her, as she brought the steaming cup of coffee to her lips. She blew softly across the top before sipping gingerly.

"I was hoping for some basic tutelage. Like I'm Danielson and your Mr. Miyagi."

I chuckled at the movie reference. "That I can do, Danielson."

She laughed, sending a fluttering to my heart. I knew that feeling, but I hadn't felt it in years. This woman could grow on me.

THE END

***************************************AUTHOR'S NOTE******************************

Okay, so I am pretty sure that a lot of people are going to totally hate me for this ending. But I had this scene in my head since the first chapter. Tabby wasn't going to be able to choose between Ranger and Diesel and (honestly) neither of them were ready or able to open their hearts to her. Diesel is the never-ending playboy…the eternal bachelor. While he loved Tabby, he could never really have been what she needed because she wasn't who she wanted to be.

I hope that this ending doesn't insight riots with those of you who adamantly read my fanfics. This is just how it needed to end. I may or may not have a sequel to this one…with Karoline as the next Stephanie Plum. But she does have potential. Happy reading to you all. And thank you so very much, from the bottom of my heart, for reading and reviewing my writing. You give me happy-happy-joy-joy feelings!

With loving thoughts…

OBSESSIVE READER22


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